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

I confirm to the House that, hopefully, following the Cabinet decision this Friday, it is the intention to reimburse local authorities, large and small, as soon as possible thereafter, certainly early in the month of June. There would have been extensive consultation between the Departments, both at official and political level, with local authorities across the country in regard to their financial position. All of them indicated that until the end of June, their financial position was okay but they do need a longer-term plan, as Deputy Ó Broin mentioned earlier. It is very much our intention that that money will be released as early as possible in June so that the first part of that long-term planning can happen.

To go back to one of the points Deputy Ó Broin and others made earlier about rolling over the three-month waiver, a commitment was given by the Minister, Deputy Murphy, when the final announcement was made that it would be rolled over for businesses that are still closed due to the effects of the virus. What will also be discussed at Government on Friday is businesses that have been severely impacted. There is no uniform solution to this. That is the reason we need to give local authorities the maximum flexibility. What do I mean by that? Some of the pharmacies in the middle of this city or in a big urban centre like Kilkenny, Carlow or Wexford would have been quite quiet, particularly during the height of the lockdown period. However, pharmacies in some of the smaller locations on the periphery or even in smaller villages and towns would have been very busy during the lockdown period because people were at home and not travelling, so it is very difficult. We are keen that, as part of the scheme, if it is approved by Government, there would be an appeals mechanism also to ensure that in terms of those specific discrepancies that may exist in one category of business throughout the local authority there would be flexibility to deal with each case.

Deputy Feighan is right about the one-off house. There are still many parts of the country where it is cheaper to buy a second-hand, one-off house than it would be for a local authority to construct a house. As I understand it, there is still flexibility for local authorities, in conjunction with the Department, to make those types of purchases but I will get the Minister, Deputy Murphy, to revert directly to the Deputy.

On the age-old issue of Inishcrone, as the Deputy will be aware, the Local Government Act which passed the Houses last year drew up the criteria under which a plebiscite could be held. We had plebiscites on the issue of directly-elected mayors in three local authority areas. That would also work in the case of a naming issue, such as Inishcrone. In this particular situation, there is a conflict between legislation, in that the official languages legislation falls under the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. I will endeavour to get an update and response from it about where it stands with the review of that legislation and ensuring the plebiscite can be put to the people of Inishcrone about the spelling they wish for their town.

See this speech in context