Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the Local Authority Times, a publication of the Institute of Public Administration, IPA, two researchers came to the following conclusion:

Equalisation is a key element of a country’s inter-governmental fiscal arrangements where functions and funding are decentralised to subnational government. Although Ireland is a highly centralised country with limited responsibilities and powers devolved to local authorities horizontal fiscal imbalances exist and persist. Ireland has a system of equalisation transfers but we believe that the current model is not fit for purpose.

They continued to construct a more equitable and logically based fiscal model. The Minister of State seems to be saying today that we know it is unfair and that there is no justification. No justification has been given to me today as to how the equalisation fund was arrived at. However, it is proposed to blackmail people in Galway with the same value of house to pay more money before we undo an objective injustice. That is what the Minister of State is telling me and it is totally unacceptable. In addition, this would not solve the problem of the inequity because it is much deeper than that.

The second point is that this mechanism of raising it was actually meant for extra services, all other things being equal, not as a mechanism to cover up for an unfair system coming from the Custom House. At the end of the day, it will not address the fundamental issue which is that there is no basis in logic to the present system. If an individual suffered in this way, a case would already have been taken to the Ombudsman and the inequity would have been put right.

A Programme for Government - Our Shared Future commits to reform in funding of local authorities. What has been done to date other than tinkering at the edges? The LPT reform has nothing to do with funding local authorities; it is about how much the public pays. We need comprehensive reform now and not at some date in the future that is constantly deferred. The cumulative damage done to Galway County Council is already very serious.

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