€3,000 for chopper; no money for clerk

www.donegalpost.com
(July 29th, 2009)

Ballyshannon town councillors were furious at their meeting last week over plans to let their acting Town Clerk go this week. Councillors were told the move was unavoidable under the government’s ban on recruitment in the public service.

Fine Gael cllr Phonsie Travers drew a comparison between the move and a recent €10,000 helicopter trip by Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Eamon O Cuiv to open a playground in Co. Cork.
“They can’t provide money for a vital local government official but they can spend €3,300 an hour for a helicopter on an assignment that was completely and utterly useless”, cllr Travers said.
The town clerk is on extended maternity leave until the end of the year and she was replaced on a temporary basis by an acting clerk whose contract ends this week.
Councillors were told this leaves them without the services of a clerk unless something can be resolved in talks between Town Manager Francis Coyle and Donegal County Council’s Human Resources Manager.

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