Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been generally acknowledged by local authority executives and members throughout the country that the Government looked after them well over the course of Covid-19. I include Galway City Council and Galway County Council in that. This was the right thing to do. There was full compensation for rates waivers. Even though local authorities do not always collect 100% of rates, they were refunded 100%. All of this underlines the need to have a sustainable revenue source, including the local property tax, which the Deputy and her colleagues oppose. Taking that away would further erode the revenue base local authorities have.

The Deputy raised a specific issue relating to Galway. I will ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who is in charge of the allocation of funding across local authorities, to come back to her directly.

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