Council transparency

LOUTH County Council tenants are being advised to take out contents insurance for the house they are renting from the local authority, the December meeting heard.

Cllr. Joanna Byrne said that while it was good advice, not all tenants were in a position to take out insurance. She asked if this would impact them at all as tenants.

Director of Housing, Paddy Donnelly, said although there was no impact, tenants were being advised it was best practive. If they didn’t local authority would try to engage with them on the issue.

THE recent National Integrity Index of Local Authorities saw Louth County Council placed 23rd out of 31 local authorities rated, members heard at the December meeting.

Cllr. Emma Coffey said she noted the survey was conducted in different categories, including ethics, accountability and transparency.

She agreed with points raised in the survey about notes from pre-planning meetings, saying that meetings should be noted. She added that this would also act to protect the council.

A motion calling for fully compostable shopping bags to be exempt from the proposed range of environmental levies had a mixed reaction. Cllr. James Byrne said this could be ‘ part of the solution to eliminate singe use plastics.’

But Cllr. Marianne Butler said she couldn’t support the motion on compostable bags as the long term view of their impact on the environment was not yet available. She added that there were also some issues with bags for life, which were in most cases petroleum based. She said one option was a cardboard box.