Published: Wednesday, 13th May, 2009 2:00pm

Almost €60k spent on conference expenses since last election

Athlone Town Council spent a total of €56,337.14 on sending councillors to conferences from June 2004 until the end of 2008, the Westmeath Independent has learned.

The sum includes €40,190.14 in expenses claims from councillors and €16,147 in conference fees.

When complete figures for the first six months of 2009 are compiled, it"s likely that at least €60k will have been spent sending town councillors to conferences since the last local election.

Current Mayor of Athlone, Fianna Fáil"s Cllr Egbert Moran, has claimed the most in members" conference expenses with a total of €14,305.77 claimed back from the council from the period of his re-election in June 2004 until the end of 2008.

In the last six months of 2004, Cllr Moran claimed a total of €3,712.91, the highest claim from any of the councillors within the entire time examined. In the years 2005 to 2008, Cllr Moran then claimed less than €3,000 per year in conference expenses.

Fianna Fáil councillors John Butler and Kieran Molloy have claimed the second and third highest amounts respectively, with Cllr Butler claiming €8,538.38 and Cllr Molloy claiming €8,060.47 also during that same period from June 2004 until the end of 2008.

The fourth Fianna Fáil town councillor, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran claimed the fourth highest amount in expenses, with a total of €6,466.71.

Sinn Féin councillor Paul Hogan has claimed a total of €2,177.35 in conference expenses, the fifth highest amount. His claims ranged from €271.99 in 2007 to €731.06 in 2008.

Fine Gael councillor Mark Cooney has claimed a total of €460.20 in conference expenses. He made one claim in the last six months of 2004 and a second claim during 2008.

The second Fine Gael councillor Mick O"Connell, who was co-opted to the council in October 2007, had one claim of €181.26 during 2008.

Independent councillor Austin Berry has claimed no expenses at all during his time serving on the council, which he said was a matter of principle. Labour councillor Ray Lennon has also never put in a claim for conference expenses.

These particular conference expenses include food, travel and accommodation costs for councillors attending various conferences around the country and do not include the other general expenses they claim for normal daily council duties.

During the same time, Athlone Town Council spent a total of €16,147 in conference fees, which are the costs incurred by sending the councillors to the conferences.

These fees are paid directly to whichever organisation is running the conference and a payment is due per each person attending. The most expensive year was 2005, when the council spent €4,070 on fees.