Cash-strapped Cork City Council splashes cash on Queen and Junk Garden

The knife continues to be wielded on a daily basis at City Hall as vital services such as housing maintenance continue to be subjected to cuts.  At the same time, the city’s refuse service has just being privatised and householders can now expect to pay a lot more for a poorer service while waivers will soon be a thing of the past regardless of your personal circumstances or income.  However while this slashing of expenditure goes on relentlessly, there seems to be no shortage of cash when it comes to junkets, so-called VIPs or frivolity.   A case in point is the visit of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth last May.      

Workers Party councillor Ted Tynan condemned the “wanton waste of public money” surrounding the visit and put down a series of probing questions to the City Manager at a recent council meeting, seeking to get to the bottom of the expenditure.  The answers to his questions were astonishing with the following expenditure being uncovered:

·         A fast-tracking of €40,031 on capital improvement to the Princes Street Market in advance of the queen’s 15 minute jaunt through the market.

·         €87,439 spent on special road works and cleansing in addition to the cost of sealing drains, manholes and culverts in case terrorists might lurk in them.

·         €70,000 on floral and hedging displays, environmental improvements and enhancement of the visual environment (putting up hoardings to hide derelict sites, painting over graffiti, etc)

·         €5,000 on a once-off website for the visit which is now redundant.

·         €30,380 on producing press packs and providing media facilities to local and visiting press and television.

·         €786.50 for a silver brooch and some leather-bound books for the queen

·         €90,195.46 on staging street events, music and producing a video.

·         €2,344 for hospitality (presumably food and drink) for visiting “dignitaries” including the Mayor of Swansea and government ministers.

That’s a total of €326,133.46 on the visit, which does not include expenditure at national level such as garda overtime, security, etc.

Then there is the now infamous sky-garden designed by “celebrity” gardener Diarmuid Gavin which Cork City Council has already spent in the region of €400,000 in purchasing, on top of almost €750,000 of taxpayers’ money spent by Fáilte Ireland.   The garden, which is now covered in tufts of grass and weeds, is lying redundant and starting to rust in the Showgrounds while the council decide what to do with it.  Meanwhile the City Manager has refused to disclose documentation on the deal with Gavin which was sought by the Irish Examiner under the Freedom of Information.   Cllr. Tynan has pledged to pursue the matter when at the next meeting of the city council.

Council pre-empting water charges

Councillor Ted Tynan has accused Cork City Council of pre-empting the introduction of water charges by installing meter-ready stopcocks in parts of the city over the past five years.

Cllr Tynan said that meter-ready stopcocks had already caused water outages in some areas during the recent freeze-up. He had seen such appliances in the Mayfield area which had a screw-on plastic cap with could be removed in a matter of minutes to install a meter. Many of these covers had burst during the recent freeze. (see photo).

“While Minister John Gormley has this morning announced that installation of water meters would begin next year, the fact is that Cork City Council have been preparing for this for several years and have jumped the gun on this issue”, said the Workers Party councillor.

Councillor Tynan said that the debate on water charges was totally skewed and householders were being blamed for water losses through leakages which were mainly due to years of underinvestment in the public water system. “For the past few weeks we have been bombarded with propaganda about people leaving taps running and wasting water but not one city or county manager can tell you how much of the water is being lost in this way and how much is being lost in the public mains through leakages”, he said.

“There is going to be a major battle in opposition to water charges which are a precursor to privatisation. These charges are another tax on working people and a totally unjust form of double taxation. It should be remembered that public opinion forced the scrapping of water charges over ten years ago. We are confident that this can be done again through a rigorous and determined campaign of opposition”.

“The Workers Party is already preparing its own campaign against water charges and we will work closely with others who oppose these unjust charges in building alliances around the country to oppose them. Water charges make no sense whatsoever, they are against the interests of public health, and water privatisation has been a disaster for ordinary people wherever it has taken place. The battle starts now and Minister Gormley will find he is facing a formidable opposition to charging for water.”, said Cllr. Tynan.

Tynan praises council staff, emergency services for flood response

Councillor Ted Tynan has praised Cork City Council staff and the emergency services for their efforts in response to the flooding crisis in the city.

The Workers’ Party councillor said that staff at all levels had worked tirelessly to deal with the crisis and many of them had stayed at their posts for two or three days with no more than a few hours sleep. He said that the response proved the worth of public service workers and contradicted much recent negative comment on the public service.

“Over the past few days I have travelled to various locations around the city, especially around Mayfield and the North East Ward, and have seen City Council workers doing Trojan work. They have been faced with an extremely difficult situation but have coped very well with it. I would like to thank all those involved including council workers, the gardaí, fire and other emergency services and individuals who have volunteered to help. It was truly a team effort by all concerned”, said Cllr. Tynan.

“This should give advocates of privatisation plenty of food for thought. I have no doubt if these were privatised services we would not have had the same level of response. The public service has stepped up to the mark in a severe emergency and comes out with full marks for dedication, effort and determination”, he declared.

CUT IN TEACHER NUMBERS SABOTAGES CHILDREN’S EDUCATION

Workers’ Party Councillor Ted Tynan has said that cuts in the number of teachers in Ireland’s schools in the forthcoming year will effectively sabotage the education of thousands of children and young people.

Reacting to claims by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland that cuts will mean up to 3,600 fewer teachers in second level schools this autumn as compared with last year, Cllr. Tynan said that this would have a devastating effect on schools and pupils and would particularly cause even more educational disadvantage in schools which are already under-resourced and in special needs cases in particular.

The Workers’ Party councillor rejected the Department of Education’s response to the teacher’s union figures, saying that the department was trying to hide behind a smokescreen about numbers when it was clear even by the department’s own figures that there would be significantly fewer teachers in schools this coming term.

“This massive cut in the numbers of teachers in our schools is another cutback resulting from the banking bailout and NAMA. Children are being made to suffer because the government is more interested in saving the skins of greedy bankers and property speculators who lost the run of themselves in the casino style property boom. The result is that thousands of children will fall through the cracks and suffer educational disadvantage which will last for their entire lifetime. This puts many working class people at an even greater disadvantage because it is the most vulnerable as usual who will bear the brunt of these vicious cutbacks”, said Councillor Tynan.