The Cathaoirleach welcomed the Members to the Budget Meeting and invited the Chief Executive and Directors to present the Draft Budget to the Members.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE REPORT

The Chief Executive Mr. Shane Tiernan presented the Draft Budget to the Elected Members for consideration:

• The Draft Budget has been prepared in accordance with S102 of the Local Government Act.
• The decision to an increase of 5% in LPT has resulted in the sum of €590,000 and will allow for €300,000 to be distributed for Community and Enterprise projects, €191,000 for street cleaning, and €75,000 for voluntary graveyards, and will also support tidy towns grants and match funding for additional investment in the county.
• The ability to increase revenue funding mechanisms is limited and therefore there is a need to work with ratepayers in 2025 to ensure a high collection rate, to deliver over 1100 services in Roscommon.
• Commercial Rates in County Roscommon are the most important source of income and this draft budget contains a 5% increase to balance it. Commercial Rates have not been increased in Roscommon in several years. There is a need to secure the rate increase in order to drive forward with plans for the County, in particular, an ambitious capital delivery programme.
• A map was circulated showing €145 million between complete, progressing, and planning projects for the county. This investment programme requires €28 million in match funding. The small investment locally from ratepayers and LPT payers leads to a huge return and endorsement by Central Government in providing funding to progress the ambitious plans for County Roscommon.
• In Housing, there are ambitious plans to deliver over 250 new social housing over the current programme.
• The successful scheme CroíCónaithe of bringing old properties back into use to be occupied is in excess of 300 properties for Roscommon.
• The N5 Ballaghaderreen Road project now commenced.
• Public lighting upgrades are being carried out.
• The construction of the new Civil Defence Building is progressing.
• Projects are progressing on Greenways and enhancing attractions in the County such as the Rathcroghan Royal site and the National Famine Strokestown. There are plans to connect these attractions through the Dublin-Galway Greenway to the Royal Canal Greenway at Cloondra and Tarmonbarry up through the county through a network of Greenways.
• Integration is important for new residents in County Roscommon to enable them to contribute economically and socially, and be inclusively involved.
• Climate Action is a very significant area of focus over the coming years.
• There is heavy investment in IT infrastructure to prevent against cyber threats and ensure we can continue to modernise the digitalisation of our online services.

In conclusion, the Chief Executive thanked the Director of Finance, Sean Mullarkey, the Management Team and Corporate Policy Group for their input to the Budget and recommended it to the Elected Members for adoption.

The Cathaoirleach proposed that the meeting would be concluded by 1.00pm, to allow each Director to speak about their areas of responsibility, and that each Member would be afforded four minutes  ...  view the full minutes text for item 176.21