Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State. The simple fact is that the population of Kildare has increased by 50% in the last 20 years. Although the State has grown, Kildare and especially north Kildare has outpaced that and grown rapidly. Unfortunately, the delivery of funding to the local government in Kildare, Kildare County Council, has not been kept at the same pace. That means we do not have the delivery of facilities we should have and which nearby counties have. Kildare has been at the lowest spend per capita among the councils in all other counties. It has been behind in how services are delivered. Obviously, there is always the debate that more can be done from within the councils themselves but, ultimately, funding is a key aspect.

I welcome the point the Minister of State made about the LPT and how we can maybe keep more funding within rapidly growing county councils. I look forward to hearing his further detail on that.

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