Thrifty Trim councillors spent least in the country on junkets

While many local authorities across the country have come under fire for the high level of expenses being clocked up for attending conferences overseas, Trim Town Council has been highlighted as one of the authorities claiming the least. Figures from the Department of the Environment & Local Government showed that the average claim for councillors in conference expenses at home and abroad was €7,000 last year. However, the thrifty town councillors in Trim clocked up an average of just €89 each in expenses for going to conferences in 2009. Environment Minister John Gormley has introduced new spending limits for councillors attending conferences at home and abroad in a bit to curb costly junkets. Under the new regime, city and county councillors will be limited to €4,700 per year; borough councillors €3,000; councillors from larger towns €2,000, and councillors from smaller towns to €1,000. The new limits will not apply to councils which spent less than these amounts last year and, in those cases, the actual amount spent in 2009 will apply as the limit. The country's 1,000 councillors racked up a staggering €5.1m in expenses last year for conference mileage, travel and accommodation at home and abroad. The highest claims for county councillors were in Longford where the average was €12,300 each, while city councilors in Limerick claimed an average of €12,600. Trim Town Councillor Gerard Reilly said they had "never went too mad" on expenses for conferences in Trim and that it was nice that they were being highlighted as being one of the lowest spending councils for this. He said: "It is nice to be mentioned in the national newspapers for the way we handle money with Trim being named as one of the town councils where expenditure was the lowest on conferences. We haven't gone spending big money like other councillors around the country." Cllr Reilly said they had "never went too mad" on conference expenses and commented that some councils make sure councillors go to all the conferences that come up. "In Trim, we are very good-spirited in the way we handle conferences. We attend the LAMA and AMAI conferences and show our commitment to those. We hosted both of those conferences in Trim two years ago and continue to support those two conferences as they are important information conferences," he said. Cllr Reilly said that 15-20 notices come in about conferences throughout the year and they do not support them all. "We couldn't afford that. It is the taxpayers' money and we have to be careful how we spend it," Cllr Reilly added.