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

The compensation for Waterford City and County Council will be €2 million, while for Wicklow County Council it will be €300,000. It reflects the shortfalls in both cases and their lack of alternative sources of revenue. It is open to whosoever in the future to consider compensation. Waterford City and County Council is in quite straitened financial circumstances. It has a budget of approximately €130 million and is the only local authority that has not yet approved this year's budget. Its debts are €117 million and, therefore, it has a 90:10 debt-to-revenue ratio. I gave a commitment last week that officials from the local government sector, representatives of the National Treasury Management Agency and the European Investment Bank, as well as other relevant stakeholders and I will visit the local authority in Waterford in early January to determine how to manage the debt in the future.

One of the problems identified for local authorities is the delay in appeals against commercial rates. We will invest additional staff and physical space in the appeals process, although that, too, is separate from the Department. There is a lag that needs to be addressed in order that local authorities will not have a shortfall resulting from it, and that is being addressed as we speak.

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