LIMERICK City North councillor Cian Prendiville was ruled out of order, and his call for a vote ignored, at a council meeting last week when he objected to a number of conferences, which he claims are “little more than tax-payer funded councillors holidays”.
The Anti-Austerity Alliance member alleged that at least two of the conferences the council was agreeing to allow councillors claim expenses for were “bogus”, and involved “little more than three hours of seminars spread across three days to allow councillors claim two nights accommodation, food and travel”.
Cllr Prendiville commented, “I did some research into the conferences and was shocked by what I found. One company seems to be making huge money running so-called conferences which are little more than glorified weekend breaks, paid for by the council.”
“The vast majority of the conferences have the same two ‘expert’ speakers, regardless of the topic. I don’t think anyone has a problem with councillors attending legitimate conferences, but legitimate is the key word, and this is clearly abusing the system,” he claimed.
When attendance at the conferences was being voted on at last week’s Council meeting, Cllr Prendiville attempted to raise the AAA’s objections, but was ruled out of order.
Before moving onto the next item on the agenda, Cathaoirleach of Limerick City and County Council, Cllr Kevin Sheahan described the AAA councillor’s statement as one of the “most absurd” he had ever heard.
“I can’t take you seriously,” said Cllr Sheahan.
