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Donegal County Council rejects insolvency claims 13.04.15

DONEGAL County Council management has rejected suggestions that the local authority is insolvent.
The Council's chief executive, Seamus Neely, was responding to recent audit figures showing that the organisation is running at a deficit of €17.7 million.
He said while the audit figures are accurate there was an "inaccurate interpretation of aspects of the report particularly in relation to comments around the financial solvency of the Council".
"It is factually incorrect to suggest that any business whether public or private sector and which happens to have a revenue deficit at the end of a particular year in its balance sheet is insolvent.
"This misrepresents the position of any such business to its stakeholders including in the case of Donegal County Council, its elected members, its employees, its customers (and) those businesses that provide goods and services to the Council, amongst others," said Mr Neely.
"In this context I can give full assurance to all of the stakeholders of the Council of fullest confidence in the ongoing financial management of the organisation and reject any notion or suggestion that the organisation is insolvent or any connotations associated with such a term."
Mr Neely said he was "pleased to report" that the provisional figures for the year-end position had improved by some €785,000 in respect of the County Council alone and as a result of the merger with the town councils and on a once-off, exceptional basis, by a further €2.045 million.
He said this would see the 2013 deficit reduced by some €2.83 million to less than €15 million.
He said the Council’s financial statement also included a credit position on its specific revenue reserve, amounting to some €3.375 million at the end of 2014. "When netted off against the general revenue deficit this €3.375 million would reflect a net deficit position of approximately €11.6 million," Mr Neely added.
He said he was confident the Council's approach to bad debt is "fair and equitable".
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