MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has expressed concern at the "levels of engagement" displayed by councillors when attending seminars and conferences.
At the Local Authority Members Conference yesterday, Mr Gormley said his proposals for reform of local government would confer some new powers on local authority members - but he also questioned the value of councillors attending conferences for which they received expense allowances.
All councillors receive annual stipends and a non-taxable allowance. While rates may vary between local authorities, members of Dublin City Council, for example, are entitled to annual stipends of €16,756 as well as €8,406.71 in non-taxable expenses for attendance at meetings. They also receive an additional non-taxable €6,000 for chairing a strategic policy committee and €600 towards mobile phone bills.
Members are, in addition, supplied with home computers or laptops.
However, local authority members are also entitled to a standard mileage rate and overnight allowances for attending conferences and seminars - a feature that has in the past led to councillors being accused of travelling long distances to sign into conferences while giving cursory attention to the agenda.
Mr Gormley is understood to have personal experience of speaking at a conference at which about 20 local authority members were present, when in excess of 100 were signed in.
He told councillors yesterday he was concerned about the relevance of some conferences and he stressed that attendance should be measured against certain criteria, including the relevance of the occasion to the role of the councillor, value for money and the possibility of meeting training and developments needs closer to home, such as in an in-house setting.
