Independent Councillor Ciarán Fisher has called for a motion to central government to make a portion of the Apple Tax surplus available to municipal councils for discretionary funding to help get make a real difference and ensure proposed projects receive the funding that will enable them to become a reality and not delayed by bureaucracy.
In a statement, Fisher spoke of the disconnect between Ireland being a rich country but not always feeling like one, citing issues in healthcare, housing shortages and overspending on projects such as the National Children’s Hospital.
“The central government has been almost patronising about how well Ireland has been doing. Ahead of the general elections, the budget surpluses were a source of quasi-bragging for the sitting parties – but that was only salt in the wound of people who haven’t seen that on-paper wealth, translate into tangible improvements for their day to day life: Our healthcare system is still bursting at the seams, we are in a housing crisis, we have some of the largest class sizes in Europe, our Garda are struggling to recruit and so on,” he explained.
“The state struggles with getting value for its money, which also contributes to the disconnect between Ireland being a rich country, but not always feeling like on: Dare I mention the National Children’s Hospital? Or the recently released files that revealed the Narrow Water Bridge would have cost £500,000 fifty years ago (about 8million in today’s money) but was dismissed…now it’s running to a cost of 100million plus!
“As a new councillor, I have been privy to how local government, and in particular the role of the local councillor has been hamstrung by financing issues and the gradual removal of councillors’ powers.
“The local budget is a balancing act. The vast majority of money is spent on housing, development management, environmental services and roads. As a result of financial restrictions, it can be a reactive budget; hastening to build houses for a superhot market and housing crisis, repairing roads that really should have been repaved years prior and reacting to flooding as it happens rather than being proactive. It can leave little, by comparison, to play around with at civic level, the things that give us pride of place and the pro-active creation of services and amenities.
“The new playground in St Helena’s is amazing, the crowds going are brilliant to see. There are people coming from far and wide to see it, which is a testament to how good it is on the one hand, but on the other it tells you the town is crying out for more facilities like this.
“Ultimately when people are casting their votes, they are participating in democracy, and they are under the assumption that their vote matters and that the people they elect can push for positive change and actions. If people don’t feel that, then they lose faith in the process, which is a dangerous thing!
“This is why I’m proposing the Louth County Council join Kerry Council, in writing to the government to advocate for more discretionary funding at municipal level. This would help the councillors of Dundalk, Drogheda and Mid-Louth to bypass some of the bureaucracy and to make a real difference to selected projects in their localities,” concluded Fisher.