Slash council pay and expenses - Cllr Dolan

A Clara councillor has pleaded with his colleagues on Offaly County Council to cut their pay and expenses in the coming year in the light of the economic hardship being felt across the board at present. Speaking directly to members, Independent Councillor Dervill Dolan appealed to them to set an example for others to follow in the constrained economic climate, adding that council management should also take a 10% cut in salary and forgo all bonuses in 2009. His comments came during a debate on a motion put forward by Independent Councillor John Carroll criticising the recent budgetary cuts in the education sector. Mr Dolan said it was easy to be critical of the budget but that the local authority needed to look at the broader issue and the motion highlighted the wrong focus of the budget targetting the over 70s, education and farmers, without addressing what he described as 'the elephant in the room', referring to the public and civil service. 'If a public sector worker is out sick, the first six months are on full pay and the next six are on half pay. There is no way the private sector could sustain that,' he remarked. Mr Dolan said the private sector didn"t have the same comforts and the hardship of workers and challenges of small businesses in the area need to acknowledged because they are taking the brunt of job losses. In light of this Cllr Dolan said a 6 and half per cent payrise for the public service, albeit with a 12-month pay pause was not 'appropriate' in the current climate. 'When I started on the Council there were four senior management staff in Offaly County Council, but now there are six senior management, with four Directors of Service alone. That"s a 50% increase in personnel and costs. When the HSE was formed not one person lost their job. In fact, they took on extra people,' he commented, adding that no major efficiencies were gained from the change. The Independent Councillor said in his view management should take a 10% cut and forgo any bonuses and that members should take a reduction in pay or expenses in 2009 in a bid to spread the burden evenly across the board in an 'equitable' manner. County Manager Pat Gallagher was not available to comment on whether the council management would agree to a 10% pay cut.