John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Paudie Coffey, and wish him well on his appointment. I hope he will convey our concerns about Sligo County Council to the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. The council is facing a challenging period, with a substantial capital debt and a growing current spend arising from the gap between annual expenditure and income. The council's published financial statements show the scale of the problem, as do a range of reports analysing the problem. In addition, we have had commentary from various sources, some of which has not been helpful in finding a solution.

My colleague, Deputy Michael Colreavy, and I are taking the opportunity to call on the Government to assist Sligo County Council, given that its difficulties emanate in large part from developments which took place in 2008 and thereabouts. During the boom Sligo was designated a gateway city based on a projected population of 60,000. Growth on that level never materialised, but much of the capital investment in which the council engaged was based on this unrealistic growth projection. The council management team and councillors have been working to address the issue and had a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, last week. The executive, working with the councillors and chairman, is obliged to come up with a clear management plan, based on a ten year timeframe, to deal with the debt.

Significant savings have been achieved in several areas through policies on redeployment, voluntary transfer and voluntary retirement, while a significant allocation to the capital account has relieved some of the pressure on the current spending debt. However, there are serious consequences in deferring the problem to a later date. Reductions in the local government general purpose grant allocation and in planning fees and reduced rate collection revenues have amounted to a significant challenge for the council.

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