DECISION TO EMPLOY CONSULTANTS “A SHOCKING WASTE”
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 12:52PM THE DECISION BY the County Manager to employ private consultants to provide a report on Sligo County Council’s financial situation has been described as “a shocking waste of public funds” by Councillor Declan Bree.
“Sligo County Council is currently paying over a half a million euro in salaries to a County Manager, a management team and accountants, to do a job and ensure the finances of the council are properly managed. Yet we now have the County Manager proposing to pay private consultants to do the job which he is already paid to do. Where else but in Sligo would we witness such a scenario?” asked Cllr Bree.
“On the day the County Manager informed councillors of his intention to hire consultants we also learned from the Annual Financial Report that he had allowed the Council overrun its 2011 budget by €2,972,456.
“The Council is now over €70 million in debt. And is it any wonder? For the past number of years the County Manager has consistently asked councillors to adopt annual budgets that were based on fantasy, budgets that bore no resemblance to reality, budgets that were absurd and unattainable, budgets that led to massive deficits in the revenue account each year. And to make up for the shortfall each year the County Manger then urged councillors to take out loans and increase overdrafts.
“Unfortunately the majority of councillors dance to the County Managers tune and they have constantly voted for budgets and overdrafts which have undermined the council’s financial viability
“We don’t need to pay consultants to advise us on our financial situation. In January I told the Minister for the Environment that it was my opinion that the Council could not survive without a significant change in management and a major financial bailout.
"What is happening in Sligo is clearly unsustainable. While other councils may have had difficulties, the fact of the matter is that Sligo County Council in the only Council in the entire country where the revenue deficit is increasing year by year.” said Cllr Bree