Workers
Party Councillor Ted Tynan has said that he will continue to vote against the
Cork City Council budget as long as the local authority remains underfunded and
its finances are linked to double taxation in the form of water charges.
The City Council last night failed to adopt a budget for 2015 and is now under threat of abolition with 14 days to adopt a budget or the elected councillors will be replaced by an unelected commissioner imposed by Minister Alan Kelly.
The City Council last night failed to adopt a budget for 2015 and is now under threat of abolition with 14 days to adopt a budget or the elected councillors will be replaced by an unelected commissioner imposed by Minister Alan Kelly.
Cllr.
Tynan said that councillors were faced with a choice between adopting a budget
which would mean more cuts in council services and more job reductions or
having a dictatorial commissioner imposed on the council by Minister Alan
Kelly.
“The
Sword of Damocles that now hangs over Cork City Council is in stark contrast to
the bottomless pit of money made available to Irish Water. The leaking water system is inextricably
linked to the years of underfunding of local authorities by successive governments
and mirrors the overall decline of public services due to cuts and the public service
embargo”
“People
may not be aware that Cork City Council, which once employed hundreds of
workers in a variety of trades, now retains only two full-time plumbers to look
after the council’s 8,000 local authority homes .The council’s budget has
fallen by €44 million (23%) since 2011 and in the same period employment there
has dropped by 367. These cuts mean the council’s ability to provide vital
services is being strangled”, the Workers Party councillor stated.
Cllr.
Tynan said the government had created the crisis that now engulfs it and
imposing a dictatorship on Cork City Council would merely exacerbate the situation.
“The onus is not on councillors but on Minister Alan Kelly to ensure that the
council is properly funded. Having abolished 80 town councils last year is his government
now going to abolish a major city council which received a fresh mandate from
the people a mere six months ago?”, he queried.
