Kildare county councillors claim E75k in conference expenses
FIANNA Fáil councillors were the runaway big spenders on conferences and training in Co Kildare last year.
Members of the party accounted for a disproportionately large amount of the money (about E75,000) spent on trips to seminars on topics including "vote maximisation", and "getting elected" in locations across Ireland.
Fianna Fail (FF) councillors Fiona O'Loughlin, Martin Miley Jr, Liam Doyle and Willie Callaghan were the top four conference spenders, attending 39 events and spending E27,585 between them last year.
Kildare County Council (KCC) is to limit councillors' conference expenses to E2,500 each this year.
Councillors travelling to training and conferences can claim for accommodation, mileage and registration fees.
Cllr O'Loughlin this week defended the practice of attending conferences, saying they were a good learning and networking opportunity for councillors.
But she said it is right, given the current economic circumstances, to cut each councillor's spend this year.
The figures seen by the Leinster Leader show that Fianna Fil councillors were responsible for 60 per cent of the council's pre-election E60,155 conference and training spend last year, even though they only made up 40 per cent of the council at the time.
The party had 10 members on the council before the elections in June but received 60 per cent, or €35,930, of the money.
Fine Gael (FG), with 28 per cent of the membership, spent 10.2 per cent of the money while Labour, with 16 per cent of members, spent 12.8 per cent.
The three independents comprised 12 per cent of the membership before the election but spent just 2.3 per cent of the budget.
Following the election, the FF figures are even more startling: the party dropped down to six members, or 24 per cent, of the council. Yet, they managed to spend almost 70 per cent of the E14,736 claimed for conferences and training between the election and the end of the year.
While FG's representation grew to 36 per cent, they spent 20.9 per cent and Labour, with 24 per cent, spent 9.3 per cent of the total.
The independents, who now comprise 16 per cent of the council, spent nothing following the local elections.
Spending on conferences and training has come under fire nationally with allegations that some members are travelling long distances to sign up for, but not attend, conferences in order to gain expenses.
While the matter has not been aired much publicly at council meetings in Kildare, the Leinster Leader understands there has been discussion at private meetings about the conference budget.
The average spend in Kildare last year was E3,941 for the councillors who did use the budget, but many didn't.
Questions have been raised about the relevance of literary festivals to councillors and whether seminars on how to get elected should be footed by the taxpayer.
Recently, the council agreed to a change how conference expenses are claimed in a bid to make the system more transparent.
FG Cllr Tony O'Donnell proposed a number of reforms to the expenses system, and these were adopted at a meeting of KCC's protocol committee and noted by the full council at last November's meeting.
He believed "Kildare will now lead the way when it comes to transparency and openness in how this money is used".
For a further analysis and individual totals please click here
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