EXCLUSIVE REPORT by Dan Walsh
The headline story from yesterday’s monthly meeting of Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District in the Civic Centre Chamber, that called for Local Propery Tax “discretionary funds be held against those who voted against it!” was raised in Dáil Éireann tonight by Wexford Independent Deputy Verona Murphy.
If the proposal was to be implemented, it would be a danger to the democratic process in local government and would severely impact on 11 elected members of the 34 on Wexford County Council.
In the Dáil tonight, Deputy Murphy stated; “A very serious incident is being reported in Wexford this morning by journalist Dan Walsh (who was in attendance at the meeting and reported on WexfordLocal.com) and South East Radio.
“On Monday, 23 of the councillors in Wexford County Council voted to increase the property tax and 11 voted against it so that the hard-strapped mortgage payers would not have an increase in their property tax.
“What actually happened was that at yesterday’s Gorey district meeting, the chair of Wexford County Council, who is a Gorey councillor, Pip Breen, brought a proposal to stop the 11 councillors who democratically voted against an increase in property tax from having any share of that increase in their discretionary fund.
“It was actually seconded and proposed further by a Fine Gael councillor, Anthony Donohoe, that the €77,000 that would have been shared by the 11 councillors be disbursed to the other 23 councillors. I am aghast. It would appear this is something new that people are not aware of.
“The Galway tent is not only alive and well, but it is being pitched in Wexford. We have a scenario where we are robbing people of their money and giving it to councillors to buy votes. I would like to know what the Minister has to say and what he is going to do about it,” concluded Deputy Murphy.
In reply, Minister for Expenditure, Deputy Paschal Donohoe said; “The Deputy uses language like “robbing”. She is condemning what is happening in Gorey – I was there recently – but, on the other hand, she is not making the situation any easier by using the word “robbing”.
“What is happening here is people who have been elected, like the Deputy and me but at a council level, have made the decision that they want to make a change in the local property tax and invest that back into the communities they represent.
“One thing in general that I am certain of is that those councillors who opposed the change to the local property tax will still be full of views regarding how that money should be spent. The change to the local property tax is in line with the powers our local authorities have and is the kind of decision that local politicians should be able to make,” concluded Deputy Donohoe.
WexfordLocal.com 