New rules see Galway councillors’ earnings slashed by over half

Councillors’ expenses’ gravy train is coming to a halt – new rules will slash the amount of money earned by the newly elected representatives on Galway City Council.

The new Galway City mayoral allowance has been capped at €20,000 for a one-year term in office, which is a cut of almost 60% on the current regime of €48,000.

Deputy mayors will have their allowances sliced by €2,000 per annum, from €6,000 to €4,000 for deputising for the first citizen.

The mayoral allowance is based on the number of elected members on a local authority. Galway County Council has 39 members in the new set-up and so the county mayor will receive a larger stipend although that also has been slashed to €30,000 per mayoral term.

The cuts to mayoral allowances are among the ‘headline’ elements contained in an overhaul of local authority members’ expenses to be rolled out Environment Minister Phil Hogan.

A circular informing Galway City Council and all local authorities across the country of the new changes was issued on Friday.

According to the circular, the amount payable in expenses will be cut from €4,700 to €700 a year, which is payable to attend conferences and education or training courses.

See full story in this week’s Sentinel.