Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There was much discussion yesterday evening and this morning on the amendments relating to financing in this Bill. It has been alluded to that in some way this amendment relates to the financing of Irish Water. It does not. That is not what this amendment is about in any way, shape or form. The amendment simply allows an amount of up to €540 million to be made available from the local government fund to the Exchequer. This is reflected in a budgetary decision. It has been well-flagged with the publication of the Revised Estimates and the 2015 Estimates and has already been debated. The provision simply gives the legal underpinning to that budgetary decision. It is as simple as that.

For the benefit of the Deputies I will explain the figures again. Page 160 of the Revised Estimate Volume sets out the forecast income and expenditure of the local government fund in 2015. The main elements of the forecast of €1.84 billion in revenue are made up of gross motor tax receipts of €1.167 billion and €440 million in the local property tax. The matching expenditure is €1.84 billion. This is made up of €459 million provided to local authorities as the LPT contribution, demonstrating that 100% of LPT is provided to local authorities. A total of €364 million is provided to roads and transportation payments, €399 million is forecast for an Irish Water subvention and €484 million as a proposed payment to the Exchequer. This is what this amendment is about. It is about nothing else. The amendment refers to the payment to the Exchequer.

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