Just three Cork county councillors avail of security allowance

Cork County Council has confirmed that three elected members of the local authority have availed of an allowance which grants them up to €2,500 to install security equipment in their homes or offices.

The figures were provided on foot of a query from The Echo, as measures to increase the allowance from 50% of a maximum spend of €5,000 for security equipment to €10,000 are in the process of being approved by the Government.

Only 23 of the country’s 949 councillors have availed of the security allowance that is currently available.

Audrey Buckley, a Fianna Fáil councillor in the Carrigaline district and Cork representative on the board of the Association of Irish Local Government, which is advocating for a security allowance upgrade, said she believed that more would avail of an increased allowance.

According to the Crosshaven-based representative, more councillors would avail of it, once upgraded, and she suggested that it was important in the context of attracting more people to put themselves forward to serve in local government but also for existing councillors.

“I do think more would avail of it, depending on where you live, especially councillors living alone in isolated rural areas,” she said.

She said there was a growing fear of backlash from differing elements of the population.

“There is a lot of discontent now,” she said.

“I was at something recently and I was asked whether there were many white people at it — so that nastiness is there — and I think that we as councillors have to be accessible to the public.”

While the implementation of the new allowance is likely to happen in the coming months, no specific deadline has been set by the Government for its introduction for councillors.