Sligo council facing €2m shortfall

SLIGO COUNTY Council had cut its workforce by almost 10 per cent but still had “no prospect” of balancing its budget this year…

SLIGO COUNTY Council had cut its workforce by almost 10 per cent but still had “no prospect” of balancing its budget this year, the acting county manager revealed yesterday.

Councillors were told that 47 staff had either retired or been let go since last August, and the authority was now facing a budgetary shortfall of around €2 million.

After being pressed as to whether there would be further staff cuts, acting manager Tom Kilfeather said while the outlook was very bleak they would be striving to maintain all core services and maintain current staffing levels. However, he stressed the council would be operating on a “day-to-day basis”.

Mr Kilfeather said effectively the council was “€2 million worse off than this time last year”. It had been facing a shortfall of about €1.5 million but  had  received a letter from the Department of the Environment last month seeking further cuts of up to €500,000.

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He said the council’s priorities would be the emergency services, health and safety requirements and water quality.

He said staff costs accounted for up to 40 per cent of the council’s budget, but in the short term the recent layoffs would have financial implications because of the cost of pension lump sums and redundancy payments.