Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Non-discretionary funding is the key issue. Most of the local authority funding will be spent on services such as wastewater, planning, housing departments, staff and pensions. The focus of attention will be on discretionary funding and that will be at the minor end.

Local authorities - county councils in particular - are really quite legalistic in terms of looking at how that spend happens. I believe the bulk of it will be spent on roads and footpaths - and is probably needed in that area. If the municipal districts are going to pick up on anything the town councils have done, there must be scope for a wider engagement with the tidy towns competition and other community initiatives. There must be some level of discretionary fund that can pick up and do something meaningful there. While what the Minister has outlined might be logical, the ability to do it will be the real challenge.