IN THE interest of openness and transparency and indeed to ensure value for money I am proposing that the meetings of all Borough Council meetings be transmitted live on the Borough Councils website,Cllr Declan Bree said at the Budget meeting of Sligo Borough Council.  

Cllr Bree made the call as the County Manager continues to pay a Wicklow based consultant approximately €1,000 per meeting to observe the behaviour of councillors

"A number of councils in Ireland now broadcast full webcasts of their meetings.  However I believe this Council could commence with audio transmissions and if sufficient funding became available in the future we could upgrade to full webcasts." said Cllr Bree.

"Currently the County Manager is paying out huge sums of money to a chap to sit in the public gallery to record the proceedings of Council meetings.   

"If the proceedings of the meetings were transmitted live on the Council website I believe it would save the Council a small fortune and more importantly it would allow the people of this community to adjudicate on the behaviour of councillors, rather than someone who is on the payroll of the County Manager.   It would also allow the public to adjudicate on the behaviour of the County Manager and everyone else who participates in Council meetings."

Cllr Bree then proposed:“That in the interest of openness and transparency, the proceedings of Borough Council meetings be transmitted live as an audio transmission on the Borough Councils website, and that a recording of each meeting be retained in an archive which will be available on the website, and that the sum required to fund such a project be deducted from the budget for the hire of private consultants.”  The motion was seconded by Cllr Chris MacManus.  Following disucssion the matter was deferred to the February meeting of the Council so as to allow for an examination of the Council's Standing Orders and to have a costing provided by the Council's IT Department.