The Elected Members welcomed the Budget and discussed as follows:

 

·         Welcome the housing grants support and the schemes that allow us to address the housing crisis.

·         There has been a lot of work completed in the past number of years including issue of storage heaters, may improvements in the roads infrastructure.

·         We need to prioritise investment in public lighting and convert to LED as soon as possible.

·         There has been great investment in projects in Castlerea including Somers Park, the swimming pool and the Hub while the arts has also been supported  with Local and Live funding.

·         It was proposed by Cllr. Fitzmaurice and Seconded by Cllr Dineen that the sum of €50,000 be allocated to start the process of reopening Castlerea Fire Station.

·         It was proposed by Cllr Fitzmaurice and seconded by Cllr. Leyden that the sum of €5,000 be allocated to support Council Business networking for staff and councillors to connect with SME’s.

·         €72m is a sizeable budget and will create economic activity. Next year will be a difficult one for small businesses with inflation currently at almost 10% and they need to be facilitated with the payment of rates over a period of time.

·         Welcome the roads allocation – there are a significant number of local roads and can the same surface be brought to these roads as is the regional roads.

·         The extra funding for disability grant is welcome – it will also generate more work.

·         Propose to support International Womens day on 8^th March 2023 with some

·         Over 1,000 houses need retrofitting and the Government need to increase the

Grants to allow more housed to be completed

·         Welcome the completion of the Royal Hotel project and King House in Boyle and the library

·         Last year we were adapting to Covid and now we have a war to contend with with regard to helping refugees and energy inflation.

·         Our staff have shown themselves to be very adaptable and resilient and we are proud to have such staff.

·         Welcome climate and energy initiatives for communities

·         The continued enhancement of Roscommon Town with public realm works is  welcome.

·         Welcome a new Civil Defence building in Roscommon Town.

·         Roscommon County Council continues to support the leisure centre and the proposed active travel scheme on the Golf Links Road is welcome

·         While there is an 8% increase in the budget, we will be challenged in 2023 with inflation. We should note that only one third of funding is raised locally but nevertheless this is an excellent budget.

·          It is very welcome that a balanced budget has been presented without the necessity to increase rates.

·         Thanks to the Council for supporting Lough Funshinagh

·         Welcome investment in rural regenerating including Rahara and a new community group was established because of this.

·         Thanks to the Council for their work with the Ukrainian refugees.

·         Welcome the continued support of tidy towns

·         It is important that the service providers and Roscommon County Council are recouped costs associated with the refugees befor the year end.

·         Is the allocation to Rathcroghan €50k or €30k – it is unclear as a total of €50k was proposed to be allocated?

·         The housing Croí Conaithe scheme is a good scheme that will bring benefits all across the county

·         Where is the Active Travel Scheme in Roscommon town? The golf links road?

·         People who have rent increases in private homes and are finding it difficult should contact Threshold

·         Maintaining the LPT increase has allowed us to continue to invest in projects across the county .

·         Cemetery funding is welcome but the council must provide water supplies in all cemeteries.

·         There has been no rates increase since 2015 and this will continue in 2023.

·         There has been a 20% increase in the budget spend since 2013 and the indications are that we will not go into recession so we must look at the positives going into 2023.

·         Investment in public lighting is necessary to accelerate.

·         Welcome active travel project in Monksland – Part 8 agreed at the Athlone MD yesterday.

·         Welcome greenway projects and capital allocation for Kilbegley cemetery and look forward to the work there being completed.

·         While we have an increased budget, inflation will affect it.

·         We are able to maintain the local roads network.

·         Can we support additional funding allocation for disability grant works?

·         There is considerable work carried out by the Regeneration team to secure funding for projects

·         Is the Croí Conaithe scheme only for primary residences?

·         What is the status of the Bogganfin Flood relief scheme?

·         Welcome new fund for Capital works for cemeteries.

·         The impact and demand for disability grant schemes is enormous for thise people.

·         The €554k allocated to adapt council buildings for climate initiatives should be spent wisely.

·         Welcome dedicated staff to work on Climate adaptation and plan. The consequences of climate change is having huge effect on the economy and people.

·         The Regeneration unit has amazing effect on the communities.

·         With regard to the distribution of funding, Athlone Municipal District is allocated the least amount of funding again and as the District with the largest population, this should not be so.

·         Full time Directors of Services should be immediately appointed

·         There is great support in rural area from the Council although the delay in the N5 is disappointing.

·         There is a need to make applicants aware of what work can be done with regard to LIS as some people applied and expected roads to be resurfaced and they were not.

·         There is a need to get the OPW involved in the development works at Rathcroghan.

·         How many Graveyards do not as yet have a water supply?

·         How many grant applications are received for disability grants?

·         It is to be welcomed that we do not propose a rate increase as this would have a huge effect on small business people. The fact that Roscommon has free parking is always a boost to businesses.

·         Welcome Capital funding for the Cloonakilla project, however request that the footpath be extended to St Josephs football pitch to facilitate road safety..

·         All of the councillors in South Roscommon have worked for many years on behalf of the upgrade of kilbegley cemetery.

·         Tidy towns funding, while small is appreciated by everyone involved in their towns and villages.

·         Still concern about road safety on the N61 – more needs to be done to upgrade this road.

·         The reopening of fire station in Castlerea should be fast tracked.

·         Need to find a way to tax companies working online such as shopping

·         What is the Lough Ree project?

·         More funding for verge trimming would be desirable

·         Is there an emergency fund for salting and gritting roads if it is needed?

·         Despite no rates increase, small businesses will struggle in 2023

·         Welcome the open library in Boyle and the completion of the Royal Hotel Project next year. Many of the projects started a number of years ago are now coming to completion and it’s great to see.

·         Does the TII provide any funding for cleaning up dumping on National roads?

·         All funding for arts and heritage is welcome.

 

In reply to the queries raised, Mr. Greg O’Donnell replied:

·         The active travel project in Roscommon town is from Hannons hotel to the golf club.

·         There is no update regarding timeframe on the Bogganfin flood relief scheme.

·         It would make sense to extend the footpath to St. Josephs GAA pitch in Monksland but land is required.

·         There is no emergency fund for winter maintenance but a requirement to have advance supplies. The current routes will not be extended but the routes may have to be done 24/7.

·         There is no TII funding for anti dumping initiatives

 

Mr. Sean Mullarkey, A/Head of Finance added that:

·         The funding of the Municipal districts is calculated on length of roads and population in a formulas agreed by CPG.

·         The Croí Conaithe scheme does not include rental properties

·         With regard to a business plan for the swimming pool, the council provide substantial funding each year but it does not have the square footage of gym space to make a profit.

·         The Rathcroghan project includes €30k in a new job code and hope to add to this annually.

·         The Council will support International Women’s day projects

·         With regard to the proposal of allocating €50k to the reopening of the Castlerea fire station, Mr. Mullarkey stated that this money will have to be found by decreasing expenditure in some other function.

 

The Chief Executive advised the Members of the following:

·         Regardless of the perception, the Council is meeting its obligations with regard to providing fire services throughout the county, including in the Castlerea area.

·         A fully manned fire station will require an estimated cost of €250k per annum but the reopening of the Castlerea station would cost €300k per year for the next 3 years when training of a new crew is factored in.

·         It is becoming very difficult to employ retained fire staff across the country and this is the experience of a number of counties. Staff need to be available 24/7 and live within a 3km radius of the station.

·         A review of all retained fire stations is ongoing and is due to be completed soon –this may see a number of changes recommended not just nationally but locally. It would be premature to make a decision on Castlerea until the consequences of this report is analysed.

·         As we have presented a balanced budget, a rate increase will be necessary to fund the proposed €50k unless it is found from some other discretionary spending.

 

The Chief Executive confirmed to Cllr. Leyden that €50k is not currently included in the budget and if not Cllr. Leyden suggested the meeting should be suspended.

Cllr. Fitzmaurice stated that the motion has been proposed and seconded and the cost should be absorbed by the six engineering areas as it benefits the whole county. He realised this is only the start of the process and all of the Roscommon MD members are behind this proposal. He cited the fact that there has been no rates increase since 2015 and we had a fire service in Castlerea at that time. We are spending €1m on energy costs and there will be a significant reduction in energy costs over time when LED lights are all installed.

 

The Chief Executive acknowledged the desire to reopen the fire station but the Council provides a fire service for the whole county but reiterated that the members must fund this from discretionary spend.

 

The A/Head of finance stated that if the six operational areas absorb this cost it will mean a reduction in their roads maintenance budget of €7,500 each or the GMA allocation - €16,500 from each MD allocation.

 

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Fitzmaurice

SECONDED by Cllr. Leyden

It was AGREED that the sum of €50,000 be included in the budget to commence the process of reopening Castlerea Fire Station, to be funded by the discretionary roads maintenance budget of the Municipal Districts across all of the six operational areas.

 

Cllr. Fitzmaurice thanked the Chief Executive

 

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Fitzmaurice

SECONDED by Cllr. Leyden

It was AGREED that the sum of €5,000 be provided to set up a Council Business Network and be funded from the General Municipal Allocation of the three Municipal Districts.

 

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr. Crosby

SECONDED by Cllr. Murphy

It was AGREED that the Towns Teams allocation for the three towns in the Boyle MD should be increased by €15,000 and that this be funded from illegal dumping funding in the sum of €5,000 and graveyard allocation in the sum of €10,000

 

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr Leyden

SECONDED by Cllr. Kelly

It was AGREED that Roscommon Council support the International Womens Day on 8^th March 2023 in conjunction with the Regional Caucus events.