Mr. Eamonn O'Sullivan:

Deputy Casey has covered a lot of material and I will do my best to answer. He started with a question about 20% equalisation in terms of the local property tax. He must understand a baseline existed and that the transition from the local government fund to LPT funding in 2014 took that into account. Depending on what side of the line one is on in terms of the distribution of the 20%, a number of counties have benefitted from the equalisation process, including my own county of Monaghan. The baseline is still very important for rural counties but it is also a constraint. One cannot go from a position of having a source of funding in 2014 to removing it suddenly, which is why we have the equalisation process.

The Deputy mentioned the disconnect between the adoption of the LPT, which must take place before 30 September, and the statutory budget process. The disconnect is recognised by the AILG and its members and, indeed, by the CMMA. The matter is under discussion as part of the reform and ongoing adjustment of the budgetary process. It is something that we have mentioned to our departmental colleagues. We have sought the alignment of the budgetary process with its municipal district element to ensure that we have a more complete, well-defined and structured process.

In terms of challenges, we are only in year 3 and heading into year 4 of the new system that was introduced by the reform Act. There is no doubt, depending on what part of the country one is in and, possibly, which political hue of those involved, opinions will vary on how the system currently works. It has bedded in well. Municipal districts are performing well and certainly those that I have dealt with. Before I took up my current position in Monaghan I worked in the larger country of Kildare. Therefore, I have experience of both a larger urban county and a smaller rural county. Municipal districts are still settling in and bedding down. They are not perfect but they are working. Our challenge is to improve the situation, to keep improving and to ensure it can be seen at a local level that the municipal districts perform a valuable function. It is a challenge for all politicians, whether one is elected or non-elected, to do so.

Irish Water was a very significant transition programme. There are service level agreements and they work. There is a regulator to oversee that work. To some extent, the regulator plays a role in tackling the challenge of managing the system and ensuring it works.

The sector in the CCMA is committed to making the service level agreements work and continuing the very good working relationship that has been established. The CCMA recognises that a lot of change was involved and there was good co-operation by the staff side of local government in terms of making the changes happen. Three years on a lot of work has been done but there is lot more infrastructure needed. Irish Water has given ample evidence of same.

In general, the local government sector now plays a more central role in economic development and enterprise. Our challenge is to balance that to provide a pro-business and pro-enterprise culture in the sector, which is important.

When it comes to the adoption of the budget and its impact on commercial rates there are pressures from small business, particularly in terms of vacancies. Effectively, the nation has had a fragile recovery. As we all understand, different sectors of business have experienced growth quicker than some and different parts of the country have experienced different levels of growth. The signs of growth and recovery are less obvious the further one travels from Dublin, which is a challenge for all local authorities.

Our colleagues in NOAC play an important oversight role in the sector. NOAC has consistently reported and its report on the 2016 performance indicators will be published shortly. Such reporting is important for householders and the commercial sector because we can demonstrate where the funding is being allocated and what work has been done at local level. NOAC helps us to do that because it is removed from the sector so can provide an impartial report. We, as a sector, look forward to continuing a strong working relationship with Mr. Geoghegan and his colleagues in the AILG and Mr. McLoughlin and his colleagues in NOAC, and will continue to help the service to improve.

I hope I have addressed most of the questions posed by Deputy Casey.