§  Any member having a pecuniary or beneficial interest in a matter before the meeting, or having knowledge that a connected person, as defined in the Act, has any such interest, shall declare the interest and withdraw from the meeting for so long as the matter is being discussed or considered and shall have no part in the proceedings relating thereto and shall refrain from voting in relation to it.

§  It is the responsibility of each member to ensure compliance with these provisions in relation to the meeting.

§  The onus is on the member to declare the interest and leave the meeting room. The minutes of the meeting shall contain a record of any disclosure made and any withdrawal from the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest from the members.

Mr. Sean Mullarkey, Head of Finance presented the Chief Executive Report regarding the General Municipal Allocation (GMA) and the Draft Budgetary Plans for Boyle Municipal District 2022.  Mr. Mullarkey, Head of Finance outlined that the total proposed General Municipal Allocation (GMA) for 2022 for the Boyle Municipal District Area was €908,000.

The decision taken at the Plenary meeting on the 26^th July,2021 to vary the LPT basic rate upwards by 15% allowed for the following items to be included in the GMA for 2022.

·         €219,000 of Community & Enterprise funding for distribution by members

·         €150,000 for street cleaning

·         €120,000 of funding has been allocated to the general roads maintenance budget.

·         €34,000 in funding has been granted to assist Tidy Town programmes and combat illegal dumping.  These services are no longer funded from grant allocations.

·         Town Team funding has been maintained at €10,000 for each of the six town teams.

Mr. Mullarkey, Head of Finance outlined the rationale for allocating funds The model used in 2021 for apportioning roads expenditure is (33.3% Population, 33.3% km Roads, 33.3% Condition) has again been applied in 2022.

The purpose of the draft budgetary plan meeting is to provide each municipal district an opportunity to allocate it proportion of the General Municipal Allocation according to its priorities.

All of the elected members thanked Mr. Sean Mullarkey, Head of Finance for the comprehensive budget and welcomed the budget as presented.

Cllr Crosby welcomed the increase in the budget but queried the figure allocated for illegal dumping stating it was not enough.  Cllr Joe Murphy and Cllr Michael Mulligan agreed that this figure is insufficient.   Cllr John Cummins clarified that the figure allocated for illegal dumping is used to gather up illegally dumped rubbish and is not used to combat the issue.  Mr. Shane Tiernan, Director of Services stated that there is a full environmental budget which will include measures to combat litter problem.  Mr. Shane Tiernan, Director of Services said that there is legislation going through Government at present which would allow the installation of covert cameras to help in addressing the problem of illegal dumping.  Cllr Crosby stated that the penalties for illegal dumping must be addressed.

  Cllr Valerie Byrne stated that the Tidy Towns Groups should get more funding as they play a very important role in keeping our towns tidy.

Cllr Liam Callaghan stated that it is important that Roscommon County Council draw down funding available for community projects.  Cllr Callaghan said it is important to keep the tourism sector in the county active.  Cllr Callaghan asked about the current position in relation to the Equalisation Fund and Roscommon County Council.  Mr. Sean Mullarkey, Head of Finance stated that discussion on the Equalisation fund is still in the early stage but Roscommon County Council will receive €7 million next year.

All of the Councillors wished Jason Corbett, Engineer in the Strokestown Area well in his new position.

On the PROPOSAL of Councillor John Cummins

 SECONDED by Councillor Valerie Byrne

 It was AGREED to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.20