Mayo County Council is putting in a serious effort to collect rates owed to it, the head of finance for the council said this week. Cllr Jarlath Munnelly raised the issue of the collection of rates in the county, which was 75 per cent according to Local Government Audit Service Statutory Audit Report for 2014. Cllr Munnelly said that he understood there were plenty of genuine cases where businesses could not pay their rate demands, saying: "There should be more of a increase in the collection of the rates, this is not a case of pursuing money where we cannot get it, but there are plenty of business who went through a tough time and paid their rates and we owe it to them to ensure that those who can pay do."
Responding to Cllr Munnelly, Peter Duggan, head of finance for Mayo County Council, said: "In relation to it, I agree, it's an area we're looking very hard at and we have a lot of staff out there working hard on revenue collection, it's not an easy job. But that's not an excuse. I should thank all the rate payers who have paid their rates in very difficult times. We are redoubling our efforts, but we literally have to go through it on a case by case basis. We are working our way through agreements with people also."
