Inflation squeezes council's 2023 budget

PRIORITIES Councillors stress housing and roads as they pass budget

While rates remained unchanged this year, the chief executive of Cavan County Council cautioned that the environment in which the local authority operates is becoming increasingly challenging.

Tommy Ryan made his comments ahead of councillors voting unanimously to approve the budget for 2023.

“It’s the same every year,” Mr Ryan told the chamber, “the demands continue to expand and the environment in which we operate continues to become more challenging. It’s no different for 2023.

"Indeed the whole challenges have been worsened by the fact that the Ukrainian crisis is resulting in higher energy costs and a higher level of inflation.”

Energy costs

Mr Ryan illustrated the point by noting the increase in energy costs for Cavan County Council has been estimated at €850,000. The government has made €796,000 available to offset much of this rise in costs, and Mr Ryan observed: “Without this supplementary support, it would have been necessary to cut spending by this amount.”

He also cautioned the councillors of the likely impact of construction price inflation, estimated at 14% in 2022.

“This is going to have a significant impact on service delivery as the allocations are not keeping pace with increased costs. In particular, construction inflation will have an impact on roads and housing maintenance. Less work will be done for the same money.”

He added that labour shortages and supply chain issues would result in “delays in delivery and increased tender prices”.

On a positive note he explained that, while it had been anticipated that the landfill site at Corranure would reach capacity at the end of 2022, due to lower intake, there remains capacity for 2023. They are currently looking at a master plan to determine the best options for the site.

Housing

After the passing of the budget, some councillors expressed their satisfaction that the rates would not increase in 2023, but that matter had been settled in negotiations for the previous year’s budget. Many also stressed the need for housing and roads as council priorities.

Speaking on this matter after the meeting, Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley said: “Getting the existing housing stock up to standard and minimising the number of vacant houses is essential, but the key component in addressing the housing waiting list is building new homes. Cavan County Council has an ambitious programme of building new houses but much more needs to be done to allow local authorities build more houses for those eligible for local authority housing as well as to stimulate the private sector to build more quality houses throughout our county.”