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Further 80 Council jobs to go
30.07.09
A FURTHER 80 Council
workers on temporary contracts are to lose their
jobs while services to the public will be cut back,
according to Cllr Pádraig MacLochlainn.
He said more than 200 Council workers have already
been let go to date, due to Government directives to
council.
“The facts are that due to Government cutbacks, 20%
of our Council staff have been or are about to be
let go. This is clearly having a serious impact on
services to the public.
"Central Government require local authorities to
deliver a wide range of services including water,
sewerage treatment, housing, planning, roads,
community and enterprise services as well as
libraries, fire brigades, playgrounds and many more
important community services. They have limited
sources of finance over the years and now they are
cutting back even further," he said. |
The Sinn Féin group
leader on the local authority said his party could
not stand by and not challenge the job and service
cuts.
"Donegal, under the leadership of the County
Manager, Michael McLoone, became the template for
the decentralisation model of local government,
bringing council services as close to local
communities as possible.
"Public Service Centres were delivered to Carndonagh,
Donegal Town, Dungloe, Milford Town and Letterkenny.
It took vision and leadership to deliver this |
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and now we are watching
this model unravelling in front of our eyes."
The Buncrana-based town and county councillor argued
that planning and community development services
should not be centralised to Lifford or Milford. The
communities of Milford rural area, south Inishowen
and Stranorlar electoral area cannot be let down
with downgrading or failure to deliver Public
Service Centre outreach.
“It is now time to say stop. 200 jobs have already
been lost. The impact is already severe. The plan
unveiled by the County Manager at the recent council
meeting is unacceptable. While we understand that he
is tasked with implementing Government cutbacks and
is limited in his options, we need to defend the
public service centres and ensure that the
Government understands that we have endured serious
cuts to services as it is." |
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