Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes. The only advantage of a growing population is that the local property tax will bring in some income. The last time I looked at the staffing ratios across the country, I saw that they varied considerably. This point has been made. The lowest staffing ratio is in Meath County Council and the highest is in Kerry County Council. Kerry County Council has nearly double the staff even though there are 30,000 or 40,000 fewer people living there. Meath has a higher population. Kerry has a lower population. The embargo was a blunt instrument. It did not redistribute staff in proportion to the population of Meath. The staffing level is also calculated into the baseline in the funding of services. It is not an equal situation. Is the staffing level factored into the 80% at a point in time or does that deviate?