MEETING OF ORGANISATION PROCEDURE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE
Thursday, November 19, 2015
QUESTION NO.6
QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons
To ask for a report on the uptake of SDCC phones by counsellors and how much this is estimated to cost ?
REPLY:
In accordance with Circular letter LG 12/14 issued on the 20th May 2014, which details the review of arrangements for allowances for expenses incurred by elected members of local authorities. A mobile telephone allowance under Part III of the Regulations shall be payable to a member in relation to the carrying-out of his or her duties as a member subject to the following –
As outlined at the Organisation and Procedures Committee Meeting in September 2015, South Dublin County Council currently has a corporate mobile voice and data contract with Three Mobile. The price plans for Elected Members are detailed below:
Option 1:
€18.00 ex VAT– unlimited national calls to landlines, mobiles across all networks. Unlimited national texts plus 2GB national data
Option 2:
€23.50 ex VAT – unlimited national calls and texts with 7.5GB national data allowance
The Council’s Telephony Section have emailed each elected member advising them of their options and requested them to indicate their preference. With effect from the 1st January 2016 the maximum amount payable will be the equivalent of €23.50 ex Vat.
At present the maximum amount payable for a mobile phone allowance to an elected member is €50.00 per month, based on a comparsion of this figure with the higher of the corporate rate there is a potential saving of over €10,000 per anum. In addtion it will significantly reduce the administration process for the payment of mobile phone allowances.