Now Ye're Talking - to a rural county councillor

Boards.ie: Niamh · 14-08-2018 2:37pm #1

Our next guest is a rural Fine Gael county councillor. He has been elected to the council for a number of years now. He has a background in community volunteering. He is here to answer any questions you have about the county council and how it is to work there, how it functions and what powers and responsibilities the county council has in the local area.

Vex Willems · 14-08-2018 2:39pm

Will you sort me out with my planning?

eviltwin · 14-08-2018 2:41pm

How many hours a week do you do and how much do you get paid?

Cork Boy 53 · 14-08-2018 2:43pm

There is a big pothole in the boreen leading to my house. Will you get it filled for me?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 2:48pm

Vex Willems wrote: »

Will you sort me out with my planning?

Well I'm sure I can offer some help with your planning but once you have adhered to your county development plan and the different planning regulations, hopefully you won't have any issues. But please do drop me a PM if I can help.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 2:50pm

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

There is a big pothole in the boreen leading to my house. Will you get it filled for me?

Ah potholes, the absolute bane of every rural councillors life. Have you seen the website www.fixmystreet.ie ? It can be a useful tool. If you would like to forward me the location and I will contact your local authority and report it.

julyjane · 14-08-2018 2:52pm

Do you get abuse from anyone?

gerrybbadd · 14-08-2018 2:53pm

How do you feel the attitude is with regard to Local Authorities and Social Housing? This is potentially the biggest political issue at the minute, but it seems there is little pressure felt within Local Authorities to deliver on their targets, at least from the outside looking in.

Turbohymac · 14-08-2018 2:54pm

Why can't the local council fix potholes and in a timely manner..down here in cork apart from the cork Dublin motorway..all the rural roads are in a very bad state and potholes actually turn into vehicle swallowing craters before the council repairs them and even then the repair is of poor quality..also why are there not more resurfacing lengths of road contracted out to private contractors who inmo certainly do an absolutely superior road finish than when the council undertake the work themselves..
I have previously worked in another department of the council for over 21 years and i am simply stating real facts.
Also if money/funding is an issue why not pass a higher percentage of road tax on to road repairs but not to be given directly to roads division of councils as they cost more than subcontractors and as stated earlier simply do very poor repairs

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 3:17pm

eviltwin wrote: »

How many hours a week do you do and how much do you get paid?

It's very hard to say exactly how many hours a week. There is no clock in or clock out.

I would say however that being a county councillor is a seven day per week job and while "if you enlist, you must soldier" applies to it, (I knew what some of the job entailed before I ran for election) you are never off duty.

With social media and the internet, councillors (most of them) are now contactable 24/7 and while you could say right I'm only responding to people between 9am and 6pm. You would be left with an unworkable amount of representations to do on a daily basis.

Some people would say that a councillors only "real" work is going to meetings. So it could be worked out how many hours a week on average each councillor does in that regard but the job entails a lot more, which I can elaborate on further if you wish, it's actually one of my great frustrations that many people don't see a difference between a councillor a T.D, Senator or often times actual council staff.

Payment.

What every councillor is paid and what they claim in expenses is available on every local authority website. (at least to my knowledge).

There tends to be an attitude of "Ah sure that doesn't include all the 'hidden' stuff" but I can assure you any cent of public money that a councillor receives is available to view.

The break down is something like this:

Representational Payment: 16,500 (This is a salary type payment and is taxable)

Monthly expenses: €380 (This is my MONTHLY travel and subsistence payment and is calculated by the distance each councillor lives from the local authority offices. Naturally, it varies from councillor to councillor) this is approx €4,560 in my case per year.

Municipal district allowance. €1,000 per annum (this was brought in last year to give consideration to the increased workload and geographical areas that most councillors encountered after the 2014 electoral boundaries were changed.

So all in all probably a little less than €22,000 per year. Then councillors will attend training modules which they can claim expenses for, I think in most councils its somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 but this must be claimed and councillors must actually sign in at the training etc

There are also allowances for chairman/mayor roles and these vary depending on county population and per local authority.

But on average, a councillor gets approx 22k per year.

Ginger83 · 14-08-2018 3:28pm

The local cllr in our area is absolutely hated due to being a gossiper and a pure liar. He is also the local undertaker and couldn't get a local funeral if he did it for free.

How does your community see you?

artanevilla · 14-08-2018 4:15pm

Ginger83 wrote: »

The local cllr in our area is absolutely hated due to being a gossiper and a pure liar. He is also the local undertaker and couldn't get a local funeral if he did it for free.

How does your community see you?

Obviously not that hated if he was elected?

Anyway.

Do you think a lot of TDs in Dail Eireann are glorified councillors?
Does 'parish pump' politics have a place on the national stage?

keepalive213 · 14-08-2018 4:18pm

Do you own a pub, undertakers or have an auctioneers licence?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 4:23pm

gerrybbadd wrote: »

How do you feel the attitude is with regard to Local Authorities and Social Housing? This is potentially the biggest political issue at the minute, but it seems there is little pressure felt within Local Authorities to deliver on their targets, at least from the outside looking in.

That's a very interesting point. I think the perception many people have of politics, government, local authorities is often different from the real picture.

There is huge pressure on local authorities to build houses. Make no mistake about it. In my local authority we are approving the building of houses on a monthly basis and there is a real sense of urgency in relation to it.

However, there's not enough focus on local authorities individually and too much attention on the minister and what he says or doesn't say.

There are also people gaming the system (not all of them) but enough that they are taking from the sincere and genuine cases and that is a real shame.

miamee · 14-08-2018 4:24pm

Is politics something you aspired to get into or something you fell into after seeing a need for things to be done/done differently? If so, what was it that gave you that push to go for it?

Do you get much job satisfaction from it? I'd imagine being contactable 24/7 you'd have to enjoy it to some degree!

spindex · 14-08-2018 4:30pm

What mobile phone do you have and did the tax payers of Ireland pay for it ?

DickSwiveller Returns · 14-08-2018 4:36pm

Do you think more powers of government should be delegated to Councillors?

5rtytry56 · 14-08-2018 4:42pm

Who has been most co-operative with you on projects etc.

Fianna fail councillors
Sinn Fein councillors
Independent

Ginger83 · 14-08-2018 4:49pm

artanevilla wrote: »

Obviously not that hated if he was elected?

Anyway.

Do you think a lot of TDs in Dail Eireann are glorified councillors?
Does 'parish pump' politics have a place on the national stage?

Made the last place by the skin of his teeth i believe, there's a % of fools in all walks of life.

AndrewJRenko · 14-08-2018 5:16pm

How much does each election campaign cost you? How much of this do you fund personally?

funkey_monkey · 14-08-2018 5:17pm

How often do you get abused - either physically or verbally?
What was the worst instance?

Do you think there is good value in the political system for the taxpayers?

What is your take on corruption - the programme on rte about the councillors taking cash bribes for a fake windmill generation? It doesn't help the public perception.

AndrewJRenko · 14-08-2018 5:20pm

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

There is a big pothole in the boreen leading to my house. Will you get it filled for me?

Ah potholes, the absolute bane of every rural councillors life. Have you seen the website www.fixmystreet.ie ? It can be a useful tool. If you would like to forward me the location and I will contact your local authority and report it.

How good are your Council at responding to, and following up on reports submitted?

My experiences of actual solutions from the Councils around Dublin is very mixed?

Gloomtastic! · 14-08-2018 5:35pm

Why did you join FG?

Do you have hopes of higher office and how long do you think you’ll have to wait to get there?

Why do councils still allow planning permission for one-off houses? Towns and villages are dying throughout the country, people are bemoaning the loss of communities yet it is the councils that allow the towns/villages to die with appalling planning decisions.

Turbohymac · 14-08-2018 6:06pm

Hi..any chance of a reply to my earlier post ..as a taxpayer logging into fixmystreet as you mentioned to an earlier contributor certainly ain't my job and highlights just how removed from everyday life some local authorities are.

Bitches Be Trypsin · 14-08-2018 6:07pm

What's your opinion on certain HSE interns being payed €4.50 an hour for their first year of work?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 7:40pm

julyjane wrote: »

Do you get abuse from anyone?

Sometimes you do, but usually from people who don't want to engage in a conversation or from people who think you are theirs to abuse, but I have to say away from social media it's pretty rare.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 7:47pm

Turbohymac wrote: »

Why can't the local council fix potholes and in a timely manner..down here in cork apart from the cork Dublin motorway..all the rural roads are in a very bad state and potholes actually turn into vehicle swallowing craters before the council repairs them and even then the repair is of poor quality..also why are there not more resurfacing lengths of road contracted out to private contractors who inmo certainly do an absolutely superior road finish than when the council undertake the work themselves..
I have previously worked in another department of the council for over 21 years and i am simply stating real facts.
Also if money/funding is an issue why not pass a higher percentage of road tax on to road repairs but not to be given directly to roads division of councils as they cost more than subcontractors and as stated earlier simply do very poor repairs

Hi there, and I see your second post too.

In my local authority almost all road repairs are contracted out and same for resurfacing or LIS or CIS, so I don't really know what to tell you.

I would certainly feel your pain in relation to the timing of road repairs but what I find engineers tend to do is try and contract a substantive amount of road repairs and then look for the tender. Rather than ten tenders for ten potholes, one tender for ten potholes.

Does that mean literally waiting for potholes to build up, I guess so, but to be fair any really severe or dangerous ones would be attended to immediately.

Sorry if that reply isn't what you were asking, come back to me if you like

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 7:58pm

artanevilla wrote: »

Obviously not that hated if he was elected?

Anyway.

Do you think a lot of TDs in Dail Eireann are glorified councillors?
Does 'parish pump' politics have a place on the national stage?

I think or maybe I hope my most local community are fond of me? Hello Ego. lol

I have no doubt there are people who would say "That fella does nothin'" but I think in general they know I try my best and at the very least I try to always come back to people even though I am dreadful at saying no or giving bad news. but thats just me being honest.

It's gas though, everywhere you go, someone somewhere had a story about the local fella, some are good, some are bad and some are hilarious! (The stories I mean)

Do I think TD's are glorified councillors?

Sometimes yes.

I think a lot of TD's are "reduced" to that level of work because of their electorate on one hand and because of rivals on the other. If they don't write the letter to the council to get the pothole filled the other TD in the constituency will.

We actually need TD's to stop getting involved in council issues. Stay away from housing, potholes and planning etc. but if a constituent comes to your door, your going to help them, it's a dog eat dog, catch 22, all sorts of tricky and in a perfect world our TD's would legislate and our councillors would be let look after the local issues but that's the way I see it.

It's startling how many people do not know the difference between a councillor and a TD and they might as well think senators are astronauts. Or even worse than that, not knowing the difference between a councillor and council staff.

frustrating!

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:00pm

Bitches Be Trypsin wrote: »

What's your opinion on certain HSE interns being payed €4.50 an hour for their first year of work?

That is quite literally unbelievable and I hope it's not actually the case? Not something I have a direct say in obviously but would happily make reps through my local TD etc, if you like?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:01pm

Turbohymac wrote: »

Hi..any chance of a reply to my earlier post ..as a taxpayer logging into fixmystreet as you mentioned to an earlier contributor certainly ain't my job and highlights just how removed from everyday life some local authorities are.

I think I replied. Hopefully!

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:02pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

How good are your Council at responding to, and following up on reports submitted?

My experiences of actual solutions from the Councils around Dublin is very mixed?

Can you elaborate on what you mean by reports please?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:04pm

spindex wrote: »

What mobile phone do you have and did the tax payers of Ireland pay for it ?

I have an iPhone 7 at the minute, it was an upgrade and cost me about €200 and I am paid by the tax payer and I am a tax payer so both myself and the tax payers of Ireland paid for the phone.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:09pm

DickSwiveller Returns wrote: »

Do you think more powers of government should be delegated to Councillors?

In short, yes I do.

The powers of councillors have been really pared back over the years and over time its officials who have a lot of control but we still have a large say in the council budget and county development and they are arguably the two most important/biggest elements of any council.

Happy to go on further if you have anything specific in mind

Stanford · 14-08-2018 8:14pm

Do you think the buffoonery antics of the Healy Ray brothers paint an unfair picture of rural councillors?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:15pm

5rtytry56 wrote: »

Who has been most co-operative with you on projects etc.

Fianna fail councillors
Sinn Fein councillors
Independent

Oh good grief!!!!

Right, our independents work well with us and are reasonable, shinners are actually ok until HQ get involved and then its just opposition to everything and Fianna fail are the most dysfunctional outfit I have ever seen, literally like having extra independents. some really good thinkers and all but useless as a group. labour councillors are good too.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:18pm

Stanford wrote: »

Do you think the buffoonery antics of the Healy Ray brothers paint an unfair picture of rural councillors?

I think it's unfair to use the term buffoonery.

I'm envious that what they do seems to work but I couldn't do what they do, I just think it's dishonest.

I hope they don't paint a picture of all rural councillors because in my experience they are unique to themselves even in Kerry they seem to be the odd ones out.

Stanford · 14-08-2018 8:25pm

Blaming climate change on God, wearing flat caps in the Dail, mentioning every Kerry village in every speech....thats buffoonery to me but thank you for your answer, they make Shane Ross look clever..!!!

freshpopcorn · 14-08-2018 8:30pm

Do you ever find their is no pleasing some people?
I see this locally no matter what somebody in county council or government does it's never good enough.
Examples would be.
They give out more medical card. They say there's to many and they don't benefit the working man.
If they are cut they say shame on the government for doing this.
If a pot hole is filled they say they needs to be more public transport.
When the rural bus is introduced they say the roads are filled with pot holes.
Same with housing/etc.
How do you and colleges deal with these people?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:32pm

miamee wrote: »

Is politics something you aspired to get into or something you fell into after seeing a need for things to be done/done differently? If so, what was it that gave you that push to go for it?

Do you get much job satisfaction from it? I'd imagine being contactable 24/7 you'd have to enjoy it to some degree!

Great question!!

I guess it was all about timing.

My dad was a member of FG but politics wasn't that big in our house. I was heavily involved in my local town from GAA to tidy towns to all kinds of things really. I happened to be a very young volunteer in my community and when the elections were coming around I was approached to run, I guess I had a little bit of a profile but I didn't know the first thing about the council but knew that it was a way for me to influence my town and said sure why not run, the town needs someone.

If I wasn't a councillor I'd still be as involved with my community as I am now but once elected you see a whole new side of the job and whats expected of elected members. When you a local volunteer you're great but when your a councillor you're now the local volunteer (FOR EVERYTHING) and you're also the guy who know peoples personal business inside and out and it can be hard to know which you should be putting more time into.

Hope that answers your question somewhat, please come back to me if you would like more info

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:38pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

How much does each election campaign cost you? How much of this do you fund personally?

Excellent question!

It costs about 5k to run a campaign in my experience.

Obviously there are people who can do it for 500 and others who go all the way to the cap but each to their own.

The party in my case would fund a certain amount of posters and leaflets but everything else is down to me and thankfully a very supportive family who will do driving and make the odd small donation. (50 or 100 euro) but theres no big business or anything behind it.

I think my last campaign was approx 3k? Off the top of my head anyway.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:39pm

Stanford wrote: »

Blaming climate change on God, wearing flat caps in the Dail, mentioning every Kerry village in every speech....thats buffoonery to me but thank you for your answer, they make Shane Ross look clever..!!!

lol maybe I'd agree with you more than I initially thought!

osarusan · 14-08-2018 8:45pm

Perhaps this question won't make sense to you but anyway:

What do you think is the general public's biggest misconception of what a county councillor's job entails?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 8:53pm

funkey_monkey wrote: »

How often do you get abused - either physically or verbally?
What was the worst instance?

Do you think there is good value in the political system for the taxpayers?

What is your take on corruption - the programme on rte about the councillors taking cash bribes for a fake windmill generation? It doesn't help the public perception.

Very rarely would I ever be abused either way.

Once or twice around the time of the water charge protests, but that was just shouting. Called a bollix once or twice over the years but it's very rare in my experience.

Good value for tax payers?

Very simply, the tax payers have a vote and they decide what value they get by using their vote. At the moment, I think there are good people in the Dail, and a lot of good councillors too, unfortunately theres always exceptions who bring down the value but in general I think we are served pretty ok- what do you think?

"What is your take on corruption - the programme on rte about the councillors taking cash bribes for a fake windmill generation? It doesn't help the public perception".

Interesting question on corruption... my take? NONE! obviously.

That program was astonishing but the fact the councillors actually believed such a big company albeit a fake one, wanted their help first and not a CEO? Would tell me it was the first time they had ever encountered such a thing. Even the guy in Donegal seemed to be winging it from what I could see.

In my experience I have never seen evidence of corruption. I have seen officials use discretion on a minor personal matter to benefit a member of the public in an exceptional circumstance, I have seen councillors use their own money to help constituents, but I have never seen anything that I deemed to be corrupt happening.

You get people asking you to help them get jobs with the council but in most cases canvasing disqualifies, and we usually can't help anyway...

hope that answers your question.

Fann Linn · 14-08-2018 8:59pm

What's your view on the abolition of town councils and (2) what is your view on the amalgamation of city and county councils, ie Limerick and proposed Galway?

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 9:01pm

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Do you ever find their is no pleasing some people?
I see this locally no matter what somebody in county council or government does it's never good enough.
Examples would be.
They give out more medical card. They say there's to many and they don't benefit the working man.
If they are cut they say shame on the government for doing this.
If a pot hole is filled they say they needs to be more public transport.
When the rural bus is introduced they say the roads are filled with pot holes.
Same with housing/etc.
How do you and colleges deal with these people?

Yes, unfortunately, you have hit the nail on the head.

Enda Kenny was 100% right what he said about whingers.

Are there serious issues in the country YES. Does the government get it wrong sometimes? YES

But make no mistake about it, some people cannot be pleased.

I had a case where a a couple were writing to me every second day requesting help in getting housed by the local authority.

After about a year of writing to me (on FB of course) and about 5 years on the list they got offered a house but they just couldn't accept it because it was a bungalow and she really wanted a two storey house.

I kid you not!

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 9:08pm

Fann Linn wrote: »

What's your view on the abolition of town councils and (2) what is your view on the amalgamation of city and county councils, ie Limerick and proposed Galway?

I could see the sense in abolishing town councils at the time but in hindsight it hasn't been great and I fail to see where all the money that was saved from a reduction in councillors has gone. I think town councils did serve a good purpose but in a lot of cases their budgets were way beyond their means. I think the new restructures might work well in that the town area returns and hopefully with its own engineer and staff etc, but we shouldn't go back to the mad budgets of the past.

I don't like the idea of amalgamating city and county councils. I think you can create a reporting structure that links both but city and county councils are totally different animals and I don't think amalgamating them is wise.

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 9:16pm

osarusan wrote: »

Perhaps this question won't make sense to you but anyway:

What do you think is the general public's biggest misconception of what a county councillor's job entails?

Makes perfect sense.

I would say probably housing.

"Oh Cllr. Joe Bloggs got me my house"

No, he most certainly did not. Maybe in the old days councillor had more of a say, in fact, they had all the say, but these days houses are allocated on a need and circumstance basis and it's nonsense when people accredit councillors with "getting them a house" that entire phrase irks me. Yes councillors make reps to housing officials but every applicant will likely have a rep from one or more councillors so it all balances out.

The next biggest misconception is that people just assume you know how or who or why everything happens. They expect you to get involved in domestic disputes with neighbours, they literally think you have the answers to everything.

I would also think very few people realise that our main role every year is to pass a budget. That we get a say in property tax, that we can raise commercial rates that we can change the county development plan.

Instead you're a pothole filler, a house getter, a form filler, a grant giver etc.

I could probably think of more if I had time. lol

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA · 14-08-2018 9:28pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Why did you join FG?

Do you have hopes of higher office and how long do you think you’ll have to wait to get there?

Why do councils still allow planning permission for one-off houses? Towns and villages are dying throughout the country, people are bemoaning the loss of communities yet it is the councils that allow the towns/villages to die with appalling planning decisions.

Why did you join FG?

I joined FG when I was asked to run for the party. My dad had been a member and most of his side of the family were involved.

Do you have hopes of higher office and how long do you think you’ll have to wait to get there?

No, I don't have hopes of higher office, maybe if the timing, need, opportunity arose I'd consider it, but I've a lot more work to get done before I'd ever consider it. I'm passionate about my own local area and county but I don't know if I would be a better benefit to my county by being a TD, but you never know! And sure as everyone says "The salary would be alright!"

Why do councils still allow planning permission for one-off houses? Towns and villages are dying throughout the country, people are bemoaning the loss of communities yet it is the councils that allow the towns/villages to die with appalling planning decisions.

I would agree that there have been appalling planning decisions but if one off houses are being built it is because there is a demand for them. Yes, there is trouble coming down the line when the room runs out in the country and the towns are empty but I suspect the direction for change there will need to come from leinster house and I cannot see rural politicians agreeing with the removal of one off housing. Would take a serious change in mindset.

freshpopcorn · 14-08-2018 9:28pm

I'm a rural county councillor, AMA wrote: »

Yes, unfortunately, you have hit the nail on the head.

Enda Kenny was 100% right what he said about whingers.

Are there serious issues in the country YES. Does the government get it wrong sometimes? YES

But make no mistake about it, some people cannot be pleased.

I had a case where a a couple were writing to me every second day requesting help in getting housed by the local authority.

After about a year of writing to me (on FB of course) and about 5 years on the list they got offered a house but they just couldn't accept it because it was a bungalow and she really wanted a two storey house.

I kid you not!

Thanks for the response.
In my town the council bought a house on the edge of town in the mid 2000's. It was renovated at the time and had bits and pieces done over the years. The family now say they want a new house because the current one isn't safe due to disrepair and have turned down a house in the local estate because they want a stand alone house for more freedom/etc.
It must be very frustrating when people like yourself who are trying ye're best for people.
I can't see the housing crises being fixed if people can keep on turning down houses.
Between this situation and the one you described. Can you?
Just to note I have no issue wit council/social housing. It's a very good ting and most people are grateful for it but some people's expectations are to high and I feel they are rubbing onto others more and more. Party due to the media/social media.
People of my parents(50's/60's) generation would have jumped threw hoops if they got offered a house but this is becoming less common.

AndrewJRenko · 14-08-2018 9:33pm

Turbohymac wrote: »

Hi..any chance of a reply to my earlier post ..as a taxpayer logging into fixmystreet as you mentioned to an earlier contributor certainly ain't my job and highlights just how removed from everyday life some local authorities are.

In fairness, reporting an issue via FixMyStreet is no more difficult that reporting an issue any other way. You're going to have to tell them the location and the nature of the problem, so FixMyStreet is as good as any way of doing this.

The real question is how the Council respond to these reports.

MAJJ · 14-08-2018 9:36pm

Thanks for talking the time.
No agenda just a thought but what would you think about making TD interference in council matters illegal and likewise making council rep to housing officials illegal. Just two examples but you get the idea , clarifies the rules and allows folks to focus on what they should be doing. Haven't thought it through but would genuinely be interested in your view, thanks again.

Now Ye're Talking - to a rural county councillor

Comments