‘Scandalous waste of money’ slammed
EN MASSE ‘STUDY TRIP’ TO BRUSSELS PLANNED FOR CO. COUNCILLORS
A PROPOSAL to send all 55 county councillors on a fact-finding mission to Brussels has been slammed by Sinn Fein’s Cllr Melissa Mullane who described it as an “insult” to taxpayers.
Cllr Mullane said she was “surprised” to receive an email inviting her on the trip, given it came just days after the cash-strapped council had raised its local property tax by five per cent.
“We have MEP’s that could meet us in county hall to brief us on relevant EU policies. In addition to that, we have a Europe Direct Information Centre at Mallow Library,” she fumed.
“A trip there, even for councillors in west Cork, would be a lot cheaper than going to Brussels.”
She said the money could be put to much better use by improving “vital council services”.
A PROPOSAL by Cork County Council to send all of its 55 councillors on a “study trip” to Brussels has been slammed by one Sinn Fein councillor as a “scandalous waste of money.”
Mallow based Sein Fein councillor Melissa Mullane said she and party colleagues were surprised to receive an email from the cash-strapped authority inviting them on the trip.
The issue was raised at this week’s full council meeting, with Sinn Fein councillors taking particular issue with plan to send councillors on trips to the EU hub in November and again in the New Year.
Repeatedly describing the trips as “junkets”, Cllr Des O’Grady pointed out that the email was sent within days of the council raising its local property tax by 5% in order to maintain its level of services.
Cllr O’Grady, the leader of Sinn Fein in the chamber, said that “under no circumstances” would any of his party colleagues be going on either of the trips.
Asked where the funding for the trips, which could run into tens of thousands of euros, would be coming from council chief executive Tim Lucey replied they would be funded through an annual budget earmarked for councillors training.
He said the trips had been organised by councillors sitting on an international and European affairs committee and not the council executive.
However, he did say there was a “genuine requirement” for councillors to be adequately briefed on EU policies that could impact on their work.
Speaking to The Corkman Cllr Mullane said councillors did not need to fund a potentially expensive trip to Brussels to find out about these.
“We have MEP’s that could meet us in county hall to brief us on relevant EU policies. In addition to that we have a Europe Direct Information Centre at Mallow Library. A trip there, even for councillors in west Cork, would be a lot cheaper than going to Brussels,” she fumed.
Cllr Mullane said she felt the trip was an “insult” to taxpayers coming so soon after the property charge hike.
“The reality is that the money for this would be coming from their pockets at a time when the council does not have enough money to fix potholes, repair its own council housing stock or take over unfinished estates,” she said.
“To be honest the email we received was vague at best and funding this jaunt to Brussels on what appears to be just a whim would be a scandalous waste of money that could be put to much better use by spending it on vital council services,” she added.