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

Galway County Council is in a funding crisis. This is not news to the Minister of State. It has been raised in this House many times over many years. The question is why. It is because it is not getting its fair share of funding from central government. The facts speak for themselves. Galway is the second largest county in Ireland and it has the third highest population across the State, only behind Dublin and Cork. The funding allocation it receives makes no sense. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, would tell us that funding is determined by size, population, population distribution and demands for public services. Looking at funding per capita, there are serious and very obvious discrepancies with other counties smaller than Galway. Deputy Mairéad Farrell and I have raised those discrepancies before. Kerry, Donegal and Tipperary are all smaller than County Galway and they received funding of more than €900 per capita. Mayo received more than €1,000 per capita while Galway received €670 per capita. In 2018, there were increases across the board of between €82 and €121 per capita. Galway's increase was €22. The level of funding is totally inadequate for Galway County Council. It impacts on every single person living in County Galway. It means roads cannot be maintained and housing maintenance cannot be carried out. It impacts on the delivery of every single service right across the board and it impacts on the development of amenities in County Galway. The representatives for County Galway are totally on the same page about funding when it comes to Galway County Council. This issue goes far beyond politics. Given that the budget has now been framed, will the Minister of State look at funding for Galway County Council?

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