Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 125:

Amendment of section 6 of Local Government Act 1998

66. Section 6 of the Local Government Act 1998 is amended--

(a) in subsection (2C) (inserted by section 7 of the Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Act 2013) by substituting the following for paragraph (a):

“(a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c) the Minister may, on or before 31 December 2014, pursuant to a request from the Minister for Finance, make one, or more than one, payment from the Fund in the amount requested by the Minister for Finance.”,

(b) in subsection (2C) (as so inserted) by substituting the following for paragraph (c):

“(c) The total amount of all payments made under paragraph (a) shall not exceed €600 million.”,

(c) by inserting the following after subsection (2C):

“(2CA) The Minister may make payments out of the Fund to Irish Water in respect of water services functions transferred from local authorities to Irish Water.”,

and
(d) by substituting the following for subsection (3):

“(3) The Minister shall cause to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas a copy of the determination under subsection (2) as soon as may be after the determination is made.”.”.

This amendment, which provides for a new Part, amends the Local Government Act 1998 by updating the Local Government Fund, LGF, provisions to allow for the transfer of funds to the Exchequer, and then adds a new provision to transfer funds to Irish Water. More specifically, it updates section 2C and inserts a new section 2CA. The amendment to section 2C is to provide for the transfer from the LGF to the Exchequer during 2014 as a necessary measure towards the reduction of the national debt, and the new section 2CA provides for payments out of the fund to Irish Water in respect of water services functions transferred from local authorities to Irish Water.

An amendment to the Local Government Act 1998 is necessary to allow for the legislative underpinning of these transfers. The transfer to the Exchequer is in respect of 2014 only. In 2013, the legislation provided that up to €150 million of motor tax income could be transferred from the LGF to the Exchequer. For 2014, an amount of up to €600 million is to be similarly provided. Section 2C continues to provide that, in determining the payment to the Exchequer, regard must be had to the balance in the fund when all commitments have been made. The total to be transferred to Irish Water will be agreed and published as part of the 2014 Revised Estimates Volume.

It should be noted that the projected income to the LGF for motor tax and local property tax in 2014 is in excess of €1.8 billion. The amendments provide a balanced approach to meeting the financial needs of local authorities, Irish Water and the Exchequer towards national deficit reduction.