Costs rising: 'Another difficult year' financially on the cards for county Longford
Materials costs have come down, but plant hire and labour costs are increasing
County Longford is facing 'another difficult year' financially, District Engineer David Coppinger told councillors at the March meeting of Granard Municipal District last week.
He updated councillors on the area engineer's progress report and road works as he explained that plant hire costs are increasing and labour costs are going to rise in line with the national wage agreement.
"The only good point is our tools and materials costs have actually come down this year so hopefully that will mean we might be able to do some extra RI (Restoration Improvement) later in the year," he said. "To summarise 2025 is going to be another difficult year from a financial point of view."
Mr Coppinger said the 2025 budget will be very similar to last year except for a few differences.
"There is a speed limit signage that didn't exist last year and it is €188,000 extra so that inflates the overall figure.
"A lot of the other ones are the same but we also have an extra €39,000 to put towards community involvement schemes this year,” Mr Coppinger informed councillors.