Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is a gimmick. Five months away from an election, a Minister is saying he will get the council over the hump for this year. This goes back to the substantive issue of how we are funding local government or not funding it. We give a council €2 million to get it over the hump for this year and then it will be in the same hole next year, and will have to stretch across all the services. One then receives an answer stating that the Comptroller and Auditor General publishes a report and to look at that. It is disgraceful. Local government is the starved, mangy dog of finance in Ireland. This is wrong.