Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for of State for his reply. I have a local government funding review here submitted by Meath County Council in 2018. The figures from that are that Meath County Council are losing out to the tune of €72 million per year by not getting its fair share of local government funding. At the moment we are getting 61% of the national average. According to figures from 2018, for example, in housing and building, we are getting 45% of the national average; on roads, transport and safety, 90%; on environmental services, 48%; recreation and amenities, 43%; development management, 62%; agriculture, health and welfare, 53%; and miscellaneous services, 77%, which is an average of 61%. These are staggering figures for our county.

Meath County Council receives €537 per head of population compared to the national average of €875. One can imagine the effect that this is having on a population of 200,000 plus and on services such as roads, footpaths, public lighting, libraries, playgrounds, recreational centres and so on. Will the Minister of State address the inequalities in funding?

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