Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Galway is the second largest county in Ireland. Looking at Ireland's top five counties in terms of size, the funding appropriated to Galway is astonishing. I have raised this question with the Minister a number of times but it still has not been explained to me why when we consider the top five counties in Ireland in terms of size, there are such major funding discrepancies.

Last year Oireachtas Members from Galway were given a presentation on funding at Galway County Council and it is important to put some of the comparisons laid out to us on the record. In 2018, Kerry, Donegal and Tipperary - all smaller than County Galway - received funding of more than €900 per capita, with Mayo receiving more than €1,000 per capita. Galway received €670 per capita. Increases were seen at that time across the board of between €82 and €121 but Galway's increase was €22.

There are also a number of serious discrepancies when it comes to staffing numbers. In 2018, Galway County Council had 757.61 whole-time equivalent staff. Kerry, Mayo and Tipperary - again all smaller than Galway - had well over 1,000 whole-time equivalent staff. This is not news to the Minister, who advised me in reply to a recent parliamentary question that he met a delegation from Galway County Council in April, and at that time he agreed that his Department would work with the delegation to explore the options available in order to put those finances on a more sustainable footing. I hope the Minister of State will be able to tell us what has happened since.

The Minister of State knows the impact of these funding discrepancies affects every person living in County Galway. It means roads cannot be maintained and less money for amenities. It also means local authority housing cannot be maintained, and this affects every town, village and community.

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