John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Bearing that in mind, because Departments might surrender money again this year, although possibly to a lesser or greater extent - I am not talking about the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - I want to relate this to my next question. Local authorities are striking budgets all over the country. One of the issues they face is that of utilities and the reduction in their valuations. As a result of that, there is a €22 million shortfall, taking all the local authorities into account relative to their budget. For example, in Kilkenny, €200,000 will not be collected from big companies such as the utilities. That €200,000 will be shaved off the figure for services to people in County Kilkenny. The same applies to Waterford, where they must shave off €1 million relative to its local authority budget.