Councillors frustrated after €15m goes unspent
Cllr Peter Flynn expressed concern over the council's annual financial statemen.
Councillors are frustrated that Mayo County Council had an underspend of up to €15 million in its 2024 budget when they are continually told there is no money in the coffers for projects.
The council’s Director of Finance Peter Duggan delivered the annual financial statement at last week's meeting of the local authority. However, councillors were rankled by an email they received ahead of the meeting which detailed that €15m in the annual budget had not been spent last year.
Cllr Peter Flynn proposed deferring the acceptance of the budget until more clarity is provided on what funding is available for key capital projects.
“From our interactions with staff and the management team, you would get the impression that Mayo County Council was on the verge of bankruptcy. But when you read the detail on this email we received this morning there is significant underspend and buoyancy in this county in 2024 which has major implications for 2025 and future years,” said Cllr Flynn.
“I do not want to hear anymore that we don’t have the money for projects. It’s clear that the best part of €15m plus has been transferred into a kitty or a slush fund or whatever you want to call it. That’s all great and fine as long as we know it will be spent on projects that matter to us and will make a difference to this county."
Cllr Flynn said it was “good news” if money has been set aside for certain projects but councillors need those details before greenlighting the annual financial statement.
He was backed by his fellow councillors with Cllr John O’Malley expressing anger that the Westport councillors had to cough up a contribution of €17,000 from their notice of motion allocation for a car park project in the town when the council had money to spare.
Mr Duggan explained that the local authority had an obligation to hold certain funds in reserve. He said there are a number of significant capital projects in the pipeline and the council is under pressure to supply matched funding to ensure their delivery.
“We have to set aside what we can in order to put ourselves in a position to fund these projects going forward. We cannot continue to borrow because that is simply not feasible,” he stated.
