Fianna Fail Councillor, John Paul Feeley has expressed his shock at the revelation at the Public Accounts Committee (Thursday 5th February 2015) that two thirds of the money collected in Motor Tax in 2014 was given to Irish Water without any service level agreement between the Department of the Environment and Irish Water. ‘It is extraordinary, at a time when the allocation to local and regional roads in Cavan for 2015 is starting off about € 900,000 less than in 2014 that the Government can allocate almost € 265 from the money collected in Road Tax to prop up Irish Water and will in 2016 allocate a further € 316 from Road Tax to them.’ These figures were provided by the Assistant Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, John McCarthy in response to questions from Fianna Fail Deputy, Sean Fleming. when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee. Irish Water is itself excluded from the remit of the Controller and Auditor General and the PAC. McCarthy further confirmed that the money had been paid over without any binding agreement between the Department and Irish Water. ‘Mr McCarthy indicated that Minster Kelly will send a ‘letter of expectation’ to the Chief Executive of Irish Water. It is unbelievable that tax payers hard earned money is being thrown around by this Fine Gael/Labour Government with no legally binding strings attached, the only conditions amount to a belated equivalent of a Letter to Santa.’ Concluding, the Fianna Fail Councillor stated that a time when our local and regional roads are falling into greater disrepair with potholes and poor surfaces becoming almost the norm this latest revelation can only be greeted with amazement. ‘We pay for water through general tax, through subvention from general taxation and now with money much needed for our roads. As a Council we are trying to improve our roads and services and in the wake of the effective abolition of the Community Involvement Scheme and the Local Improvement Scheme failing to meet the demands and expectation of the public we must work with less and less money while the taxpayers money is squandered on a quango that is neither needed or wanted.’ ENDS Contact (087) 6989304 John Paul Feeley County Councillor Stranamorth Blacklion Co. Cavan Tel. (087) 6989304 Sent from my iPad
John Paul Feeley
Fianna Fáil Member of Cavan County Council
