John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Connolly and other Deputies referred to staff numbers. I believe the Deputy quoted a reduction of between 20% and 30% in staff numbers in the Galway councils since 2008. There is not a local authority in the State that has not had a 20% reduction in staff members since 2008. There might be an issue in Galway about the increase in numbers since, such as in the last year or two. I do not have those figures on projected increases in staff numbers but I will try to ascertain them. The local authority sector was decimated by the downturn as funding was decreased. The recruitment embargo in the public sector also had a huge effect on local authorities across the State, not least in Galway.

The proposal to have a joint chief executive stems completely from what happened in similar merges in Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford. The first step in the process, before the merger had even begun, was to appoint a joint chief executive. We will endeavour, with the Oireachtas Members who represent Galway and with the Galway councils' management, to ensure there is a cash injection for Galway on the basis of reform. The discretionary fund that is available to anyone in my position is tiny. Despite the fact local government annual budgets amount to anywhere in the region of €4 billion, discretionary funds for the Ministers are very small and are ring-fenced for advancing reform in the local government sector.

I acknowledge that Galway's municipal district structure is weaker because the funding issue has been an overhang for years. I put it to Deputy Ó Cuív that it was an overhang when he was in government also, and it was not resolved. It did not just appear in recent years. It has been exacerbated by the downturn, which exacerbated everything with regard to funding. I acknowledge and accept that in order for a merger to happen the funding issue has to be addressed. We will address it by short-term funding in Galway and by the adjustments to the baseline. The fundamental problem in Galway is the baseline figure. The model that is used currently has 100 individual variables. Shortly we will propose a much more streamlined baseline calculation mechanism for local government funding.

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