€400,000 in ‘scrappage’ payments to former councillors

Fifteen former members of Galway County Council who either did not seek re-election or lost their seats in last May’s local elections will receive close to €400,000 in payments to mark their years of service.

The gratuity payments – or the ‘scrappage scheme’ as it is commonly referred to – will be paid to the nine councillors who made the decision to bow out of politics and the six who failed to retain their seats in the local elections.

The longest-serving of these is Tuam’s Tom McHugh of Fine Gael who lost out in the local elections after having spent 20 years on Galway County Council – he stands to be paid more than €65,000 for his term in office.

Another Fine Gael member, Peter Feeney, who was co-opted in 2003 to replace former TD Ulick Burke, will receive the next highest payment at almost €55,000. He retired from the Athenry-Oranmore Local Electoral Area and is currently working closely with Minister Ciaran Cannon.

The figures which each of the retiring or unelected councillors will receive were released by the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG).

The AILG confirmed to the Connacht Tribune that each former councillor will receive €3,412 for each year of service up to 20 years. A former councillor must have two years’ service to qualify.

This is a preview only. For full details of the payments, see this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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