Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Budget 2024 is very important. More particularly, in my role as Minister of State with responsibility for local government and planning, I will go through some of the key elements.

We have made a significant contribution of €421.9 million to the local government sector in 2024. A significant portion of this contribution will cover the impact of the national pay agreements on the payroll of local authorities, ensuring local authorities have the necessary resources in terms of people to support their functions. We are conscious that public pay talks will get under way shortly and that will further inform local authority staff payroll costs. The contribution from central government will also support an increase of €75.4 million in local property, LPT, tax baseline funding to local authorities in 2024. That is a 21% increase. This uplift is following a much-needed review of baseline funding, which we completed earlier this year. Each local authority will now see an increase, at a minimum, of €1.5 million in its LPT baseline funding for 2024 onwards, in line with the recommendations of the review and in recognition of the increasing costs and demands facing the sector. The fund will also provide an allocation of €24.7 million to support smaller but vitally important projects across the sector.

Local authorities play a pivotal role in our local communities and their support and, more particularly, their staff, is fully acknowledged. The Minister made reference to the local authority affordable housing scheme fund. We have amended that in co-operation with the Department of Finance. There was an issue whereby not all applicants qualified for the help-to-buy scheme. We are amending the scheme to ensure they do. It is a very progressive scheme in making it more affordable for people to purchase a home. The help-to-buy scheme is something Sinn Féin would have opposed in the past but we think it is a key element. Local authorities administer the Croí Cónaithe scheme as well, which is hugely important.

I will now move to the directly elected mayor of Limerick. I am pleased to announce that we have secured funding of over €4.3 million in 2024 to provide for the establishment of the office of a directly elected mayor of Limerick, and more importantly, for a mayoral budget to support the mayor in their role, in particular in the delivery of their mayoral programme. The mayoral election will take place on the same day as the local and European elections. That budget is for a six-month period and the mayoral programme could even be for a shorter period because when the mayor comes in they will have four months in which to come forward with a mayoral programme. I am looking to get the legislation through by the end of the year. On top of the €4.3 million for next year, I have secured €300,000 to provide for a public awareness campaign as well, which will be hugely important when we have the legislation brought in and in advance of the election being held in June.

On planning, we have provided more than €10 million and brought forward the largest reform of the planning system, in the Bill recently published, since the foundation of the State. An additional €5 million is going to An Bord Pleanála, bringing the total to €32 million, and local authorities and the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, are getting an additional €2.6 million and €3 million, respectively. In the reforms we are bringing in, we want to ensure we have the staff and capacity required. The €2.6 million for local authorities is to enable them to get the first 100 people recruited, in line with the recommendation of the review for more than 500. Furthermore, we want to ensure An Bord Pleanála has the requisite staff to deal with the backlog and further demands under the new planning Bill in the context of the deadline dates.

To support vulnerable households, there is €28 million for Traveller-specific accommodation, or an increase of 5%. I am also very much committed to making the pilot caravan loan scheme, for which €3.2 million in loans is available, a permanent scheme next year.

In respect of the housing adaptation grant for older people and people with a disability, there is an increase of €8 million on 2023, or 12%, bringing the total to €75 million. About 13,000 grants are expected to be delivered, on top of the 12,300 this year. Furthermore, as Deputies will be aware, 13 of the local authorities have applied for additional funding this year. We have approved ten and we are looking at the other three. It is a scheme we feel strongly about and want to roll out.

A total of €3 million is being provided for initiatives for disabled and older people, of which €2 million comprises expenditure for mental health tenancy sustainment officers in co-operation with the HSE, Age Friendly Ireland and the Housing Agency, which is implementing the housing strategy. It is another issue we feel strongly about.

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