Statutory Budget Meeting

18th & 21stDecember 2006, Council Chamber

Members Present:

Councillors Charles Bobbett, Joseph Bonner, Pat Boshell, , Phillip Cantwell, William Carey, Shane Cassells, Eugene Cassidy, Jimmy Cudden, Jenny D’Arcy, John V Farrelly, Brian Fitzgerald, Michael Gallagher, Dominic Hannigan, Peter Higgins, Jim Holloway, Tom, Kelly, Nick Killian, Noel Leonard, James Mangan, Liz McCormack, Seamus Murray, Patsy O’ Neill, Brian Reilly, Joe Reilly, Tommy Reilly.

Officials in Attendance:

CountyManager: Tom Dowling

Head of Finance: Fiona Lawless,

Directors of Service: Brendan McGrath, Kevin Stewart, Tadgh McDonnell, Eugene Cummins, Liam Henry

Financial Accountant: Barry Lynch,

Management Accountant : Pat McHugh

Senior Executive Officers: Martin Rogers, Michael Griffin.

Administrative Officers : Jarlath Flanagan, Brian Murphy

Apologies

Councillor Ann Dillon Gallagher

At the commencement of the meeting the members observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect, to the late Mr James Fegan, father of Cllr. Jimmy Fegan.

Prior to the introduction of the Draft Budget, which had previously been circulated to the Councillors the CountyManager introduced new Director of Services Mr Liam Henry. The CountyManager then identified that it was composed of a total expenditure of €106million for the 2007 financial year. The Manager highlighted various aspects from his budget statement and proceeded to identify programme by programme basis the proposals for the next financial year. Following on from this introduction from the County Manager Item No 3 on the agenda a report on the Capital Programme was presented to the Councillors by Barry Lynch a copy of the PowerPoint presentation was circulated to all members subsequent to this presentation the Cathaoirleach opened the debate to the floor a number of points were made by Councillors as follows;

Cllr Tommy Reilly

Acknowledged that the Manager had taken on board some comments from the previous discussions

Noted that more schools should be covered by the flashing lights programme

Disappointed that there was only a 3% increase in repairs for housing stock

Was concerned that the monies allocated for class 3 Roads maintenance were not adequate

Advocated that Meath County Council should aim for a greater proportion of the special allocation that the Minister had announced in the week prior to Christmas (€500,000 included in estimate)

Questioned the figure €298,000 for Pride of Place included area costs as well as Head Office costs

Queried the reason for a €750,000 increase in HR / Corporate Services

With respect to Programme Group 4 with an increase of €400,000 identified that Councillors would need to see results

Queried €600k for Enterprise & Development Board and stressed the need to ensure value for money

Cllr Nick Killian

Acknowledged receipt of money from Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government

Supported Councillor Tommy Reilly in advocating that money should go into roads and housing

Requested a breakdown of the top 50 travel expenses

Advocated that a commitment needed to be made to the DPG grants – special provision of €500,000 be included.

Asking what Meath County Council received with respect to extra money going towards sports promotion.

Queried staff costs at Meath Arts Centre

Asked what a figure of €350,000 for Arts, Galleries and Theatres was for and advocated that it was not Meath County Council role to fund the position of an Education Officer.

At this stage the Manager clarified a number of points as follows

  1. The 3% for Housing repairs was funded from internal capital receipts
  2. In the 2006 Budget Class 3 Roads were increased from €400,000 to €600,000 as a once off allocation the Manager indicated however that it was intended to retain the increase for 2007.
  3. With respect to the water grant announced by the Minister in the previous week in was prudent from a financial prospective to put in a receipt of €500,000 if Meath County Council were in receipt of monies in excess of this it would be a bonus.
  4. With respect to the sports promotion the net cost to the Council was €25,000
  5. With respect to travel expenses those expenses are incurred by staff and members carrying out their duties and are paid for at travel and subsistence rates as approved by the Department.
  6. With respect to the query for Arts, Galleries and Theatres the Manager confirmed that this had no connection with the Meath Arts Centre and that it was used to fund the Meath County Council Arts office

Cllr Bryan Reilly

Noted that it was good to see that the revenue deficit was zero for this year

As previous speakers he highlighted the need for housing maintenance and DPG allocations to be continued.

Excepted the need that Planning should be centralised but needed to keep services in Kells One Stop Shop

Welcomed the Recycling Centre in Kells and queried as to when it would open

he welcomed the proposal of the Manager to fund Christmas lights in various locations

and again queried funding going into Class 3 Roads.

Cllr Seamus Murray

Spoke on the presentation made in respect of the Capital Investment Programme and noted that the Trim Dublin Road / Summerhill Water Scheme and Ballivor Water Scheme are significant costs.

He welcomed the commitment from the CountyManager re: the proposal for flashing lights at schools particularly in the context of road safety

Asked about the cost of Basketstown landfill and if the Council has applied for funding.

Expressed concern over street sweeping costs due to litter pollution.

Cllr Dominic Hannigan

In his contribution mentioned Slane bypass and Bettystown Library in terms of capital funding also the figure for purchase of library books being €300,000 and if this was necessary.

He further raised issues with respect to Beach management and loan cost of €5 million per annum he queried where this came from.

Cllr Hannigan further asked if the funding for flashing lights could be augmented by diverting funds from programme group 9.

Queried whether refurbishment of AlvernoHeights would still be carried out

Expressed concern over funding for parks maintenance.

Cllr Liz McCormack

Welcomes the flashing lights suggestion

Welcomes the proposal with respect to Rathcairn Library and proposed improvements to Rathcairn Library.

With respect to Programme group 4 and urban and village renewal she raised the issue as to a programme of works to identify which villages should be prioritised.

She also raised the issue of accessing funds that are identified for the Clár area

And in addition queried the status of a by pass for Athboy

Her final comment was to welcome the proposal with respect to funding for the DPGs

Cllr William Carey

Commented as follows;

We can only spend funds that we have he welcomed the flashing lights programme but added that the ESB were met and should have been met to discuss a public lighting programme in the County.

Cllr Carey also talked about Business Investment Districts proposals for which were going through the Oireachtas at present

Cllr Carey also raised the issue with respect to duplication of services particularly Leader/ Pobail and the Council and commented that other parties seem to be able to avail of funding that the Council can’t access.

Expressed a wish for urban and village renewal scheme for Summerhill will go ahead.

Cllr Jimmy Mangan

In his contribution said

True to say that Meath had made a large investment in roads in the last number of years however at the same time we haven’t maintained the existing network

Class 3 Roads the allocation for Kells last year was ring fenced and he advocated that similar should happen for other areas

He queried loan charges in programme group 2 with respect to footpaths and roads and he also commented that with respect to flashing lights schools and regional roads should be given priority and in addition schools and county roads where traffic is higher than that on the regional roads should be included on the initial rollout.

With respect to the point Cllr McCormack had made with respect to urban and village renewal Cllr Mangan believed that two villages in each electoral area should be selected and the programme advanced on that basis.

He also commented on public lights and ESB and asked that a programme for rehabilitation of lights to be initiated

He further commented on the post of Education Officer

Cllr Tom Kelly

Made a contribution querying and noting that some of the queries he was to ask had previously been asked last year.

He asked of the €3.85 million paid to other local authorities for water and sewerage and asked why Meath had not developed its own facilities in the area.

Welcomed the development of parks and open spaces but stressed the need to maintain same

Cllr Kelly also noted that when the motorway is designated as such that the previous national route is declassified to a regional road and argued that the cost of upgrading and maintaining the road should not be left to the local authority. E.g. the N132 which used to be the N1 will take 2.5million to restore.

He also mentioned that road closures are affecting trade

Cllr Kelly further added that grants for the group sewerage scheme were not at as high a level as for group water schemes. The Department should remedy the situation.

He queried why Meath County Council made a contribution of €175,000 to the Regional Authority and asked what benefit Meath County Council got from this.

With respect to the various programme groups Cllr Kelly queried as to how finances were divided between each electoral area.

He also queried the average price of a house bought under Part V and the average price of a house bought under the tenant purchase scheme in this regard he also asked whether the local authorities acquiescing by taking Part V housing prior to an estate being taken in charge.

With respect to beach cleaning Cllr Kelly sought clarification that there was funding available in this years budget as had been made available here to for

With respect to traffic management and paid parking Cllr Kelly advocated that the spend should be spread across each electoral area

With respect to Fire Services Cllr Kelly asked that East Meath would establish its own Fire service and would not be dependent on Drogheda for a service.

Cllr Kelly also queried funding for the post of Cathaoirleach and Leas Cathaoirleach

Suggested funding for Slane bypass.

Cllr Jim Holloway

Made a contribution and highlighted;

That he welcomed money for lights at primary school locations

He welcomed the proposal to fund an audit of regional and county roads and they should forward a submission to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government with respect to this.

Mentioned the presentation with respect to the capital budget and linked this presentation with the regional planning guidelines

Cllr Shane Cassells

1.0In the course of his contribution mentioned

The situation with respect to Meath Tourism and Heritage and commented on the year on year increases for various programme elements

Argued that the budget this year in the context of the finances of the Council should be about a back to basics and that we need to bias the funding allocation to programme groups 1 & 2

Cllr Charles Bobbett

Asked if there was a list of all businesses in CountyMeath and what is the percentage collection rate with respect to rates income

Cllr Brian Fitzgerald

Requested a separate meeting on the Capital Programme to allow it to be examined in greater detail

He queried the Arts allocation and the element of that allocation which was to fund Solstice Arts Theatre.

He queried a letter that Council had received from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government with respect of €700,000 internal capital receipts

Cllr Fitzgerald compared the situation with Fingal which has a rates income of €100million and received €30million in the Local Government Fund whereas Meath received €24million with a substantially less rates income

Cllr Fitzgerald commented that details of headcount had been issued to Councillors last year and would have been helpful in considering the draft budget this year.

Cllr Fitzgerald was further concerned that the outdoor staff numbers were reducing

With respect to Dunshaughlin Cllr Fitzgerald proposed that a provision should be made for a new grave yard

He also queried as to whether an allocation which had been made in 2006 to Community Games group would be continued this year

He stated that €30,000 was not sufficient to provide for parks upkeep

With respect to decentralisation of planning Cllr Fitzgerald stated that he would be opposed to it if it means the exclusion of Area Managers and Area Administrators

Cllr Joe Reilly

Supported Cllr Fitzgerald in his view that the capital budget needed to be looked at in greater detail at a separate meeting.

Cllr Reilly argued that the budget was not sufficient to meet the needs of the County

With respect to housing maintenance he queried as to whether there was a planned maintenance programme or whether maintenance was reactive based on issues being highlighted

With respect to roads Cllr Reilly highlighted that the allocation was €2million which equated to approximately €400,000 per area and argued that this was not nearly enough to maintain the road network

He also highlighted illegal dumping costs and asked why this central management charge was high proportion of the budget.

At this stage on the proposal of Cllr Seamus Murray and seconded by Cllr Tommy Reilly it was agreed to adjourn the meeting with the meeting to reconvene on Thursday December 21st at 6.00pm.

Reconvened Statutory Budget Meeting on Thursday 21st December

Members Present:

Councillors Charles Bobbett, Joseph Bonner, Cllr Oliver Brooks, Phillip Cantwell, William Carey, Shane Cassells, Eugene Cassidy, Jimmy Cudden, Jenny D’Arcy, Ann Dillon Gallagher, John V Farrelly, Michael Gallagher, Dominic Hannigan, Jim Holloway, Nick Killian, Noel Leonard, Cllr Michael Lynch, James Mangan, Liz McCormack, Seamus Murray, Patsy O’ Neill, Brian Reilly, Joe Reilly, Tommy Reilly.

Apologies

Councillors Jimmy Fegan, Brian Fitzgerald

Cllr Jenny D’Arcy

Commented on the following issues

  • The Higher Education Grants and youth grants and raised the issue of Dail no

Nóg and the support that the Council gives to it.

  • She also commented on the Arts Centre costs
  • She welcomed the programme with respect to installation of flashing lights at

schools

  • Commented on the Rapid programme and Pride of Place
  • Agreed with Cllr Killian re: Education Officer

Cllr Noel Leonard

  • Welcomed Minister Roches increase of 9% in the local government Fund and

commented that the increase was 54% from the period 2002 to 2007.

  • He queried as to whether there was a land bank for social housing
  • Also commented on the state of public lighting in the County
  • Cllr Leonard was also concerned about the over lapping between agencies in

particular the Local Sports Partnership, Leader and the Council

  • Finally the costs associated with Health and Safety

Cllr Eugene Cassidy

  • Kells was not getting its fair share of the funding allocated to roads given that

the road network was denser in the Kells Electoral area

  • Broadband was not available in rural areas
  • In terms of the school lights that more than 3 per area were needed that 3 per

area equated to an overall cost to the County of €150,000 per annum

Cllr John Farrelly

  • Spoke about the conditions of the roads and that the currant weather

conditions were excelerating the destruction of the road and further welcomed

the flashing lights programme.

  • He also made contributions in respect of the group water schemes and tourism
  • He acknowledged the increase in the budget but noted inflation erodes the net

effect

  • He made a suggestion that the provision for the deficit reduction be reduced

from the €400,000 as proposed to €100,000 and that the €300,000 should be made available for the roads maintenance programme.

  • Sought additional funding for roads, particularly for the Kells Electoral Area.
  • He asked for a report on efficiencies that the Council would prepare and the

Manager bring to the Council before the end of quarter one 2007.

Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher

  • Welcomed funding for schools
  • Expressed concern about the condition of the road network especially road

markings

  • and queried as to what the start date was for Slane bypass

Cllr Michael Lynch

  • spoke about forward planning and the need to maintain the road network
  • reiterate points made by previous speakers about the ESB and the public

lighting network

  • he looked for a commitment from the Manager that adequate money would be

made available for roads maintenance

Cllr Philip Cantwell – spoke on 18/12/06

  • Welcomed money for the Library and also the Christmas light fund and the

school lights fund

  • Spoke about the extent of the capital budget and queried supervision

particularly with respect to roadworks and broadband

  • He asked about value for money in respect of capital schemes
  • He also raised an issue with respect to a fund being made available for

investigations on the Tara Mines site

Cllr Patsy O’Neill

  • Noted payroll increases and the increase in ESB and Health and Safety which

were higher than the increase in the Local Government Fund allocation and noted that this cost meant that in effect no additional works would be able to be undertaken in 2007.