City Hall facing 'funding shortfalls'

Stronger funding commitments will be needed from the Government to support Cork City Council as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

That’s according to Cllr Mick Nugent who said that local authorities across the country are experiencing “serious funding shortfalls” because of the crisis caused by the virus and said that Cork City Council is no different.

The Sinn Féin councilor said: “The shortfall that the city faces is a result of a loss of revenue from a number of sources. Commercial rates obviously come into the equation and it is clear that the three month waiver being funded by the Government will have to be extended.

"However, a significant portion of the shortfall for Cork City Council is coming from a big drop in non-rates revenue such as car-parking charges, council rents and other fees. To date, there has been no additional central government funding allocated to cover this shortfall.”

He added: “Clearly, we need wider and stronger funding commitments from the Government to fully cover the loss of revenue experienced as a result of the pandemic. There certainly cannot be any loss of staff or frontline services to plug the gap.

“Cork City Council needs financial certainty in order to deal effectively with the new and sudden challenges facing the city while also planning for the future. The Government needs to give a commitment that the full shortfall will be covered for the remainder of 2020,” concluded Cllr Nugent.