‘A fantastic piece of work’ Council Cathaoirleach reflects on Budget 2024 

Commenting on the 2024 annual budget which was later passed, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr Martin Harley (FG) addressed fellow members of the council at their annual general meeting and began by thanking all of the Directors of services within the council for their presentations.

“When you look at it quickly, a budget of €185million and a capital budget of €248million and it will be six budgets in a row that this council hasn’t increased the commercial rates yet we are delivering extra services.

“And when you go through all the different Directorates there and you see the different arms of each Directorate and all that they are delivering. 

“It is amazing that we can do it because as the CEO said at the start we have very limited ability to raise money, so we are depending on a lot of supports from National government and when you look at what our Euro is worth six/seven years ago and what it is worth today, and things have increased, the price of everything has increased, our tarring, our roads, or whether your different services, everything has increased.

He added: “But we are still trying to not to push that onto our business sector, and when you look at the figures from the local Enterprise Offices, 249 companies supported through the L.E.O offices this year and that is only a small part of the work they do.”

He referenced individual allocations to councillors, including the likes of the development fund initiative, minor infrastructure, lighting and that each MD now had €30,000 in funding towards Tidy Towns initiatives.  

“In the overall scheme of the budget it is not a lot of money, but the amount of help that that gives to local communities, to local groups, maybe sports groups, small community groups, wee halls, Church halls, different places, the three and four hundreds that they get, are so important to them.”

“Biggest ever budget” of €185m for Donegal County Council

Pressures of demands for increased services, while operating within a tightening global financial environment will have knock on efefcts in the future, including a conversation that was needed on Commercial Rates.

He added that organisations like the Tidy Towns groups know that come January 1, they will have a few hundred in available funding from the Council.  

He said that these small contributions from councillors mean so much to communities on the ground.