Fianna Fail in Donegal have issued a statement calling on the government parties and other independents on Donegal County Council to back their attempts to secure more money for the county and secure answers to important questions about the future of water provision.
Fianna Fail say so far, they’ve not received sufficient answers to change their opposition to the budget proposals on the table, and party whip Cllr Ciaran Brogan says that means they cannot do a U-Turn tomorrow and support the budget at the eleventh hour.
He says there needs to be a united front in Donegal, and suggested to Highland Radio News this evening that behind the scenes discussions may already be taking place at a local and a national level………
The Fianna Fail statement issued tonight reads as follows –
We the Fianna Fail group on Donegal County Council, having reviewed the Budgetry process are still firmly of the opinion that the Deal on the table in the form of the Budget book does not deliver adequately for the people of Donegal. Therefore we will continue to maintain our stand on behalf of the Donegal Public and send a clear message to the Management of this Council as well as Minister Hogan that the people of this County have suffered enough and will no longer accept these savage cuts from this Government.
Having always taken a view that Irish Water was not going to offer a fair deal for the Households across our County, our position has been reaffirmed in recent days with many of the revelations which have come to light. This in effect shows that the lack of information and difficulties in attaining contact from Irish Water has been a smoke screen and an audacious attempt to push ahead with a revenue generating mechanism called Irish Water. Minister Hogan rammed through legislation before Christmas where all of the opposition TD’s walked out of the Daíl, he and his Government are neither prepared nor willing to listen to a view point other than his own or his party’s which flies in the face of democracy. The Fianna Fail group are prepared to take a stand in an attempt to raise the issues which we face on a daily basis and try to force this government to give a better deal to Donegal and it’s citizens .
Despite our continued strong representations in regards to being allocated additional funding for Roads and Housing within our County it is unfortunate that our requests have gone unanswered. We cannot accept this and we must ensure that the needs of the Donegal Public are listened to and delivered upon for this reason we are taking a stand. We are asking Fine Gael, Labour and those independents who are supporting the Government to join us in taking a stand in appealing to the Minister to consider our concerns and the needs of the people of Donegal. We want to be a position to provide essential services to the people of our County and therefore we ask Minister Hogan to acknowledge the Democratic Decision that will be taken here today and ensure that Democracy and not Dictatorship rules our County.
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