Dáil debates

Wednesday, 10 November 2021

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Local Authorities

9:12 am

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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With apologies to the ushers, it seems we finally have an all-female Dáil.

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I believe we do.

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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We can make all the decisions now.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Absolutely. Well done.

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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We have a crisis in Galway county with all five municipal districts rejecting their proposed budgets due to the severe lack of funding of Galway County Council. This should come as a surprise to nobody as Galway elected representatives have been highlighting this year after year. In 2020 we had the second-lowest spend per capitaof all counties, with only €714 being spent per person in our county, compared with more than €1,000 in Clare, more than €1,200 in Leitrim and almost €1,200 in Longford. In a ten-year period from 2008 to 2018, the funding fell from €160 million to €112 million. This has since been increased, although not in the past year, and it is still €25 million less than it had been.

Galway County Council has consistently had a budget per capitathat was not only millions of euro less than the closest comparator but also millions of euro below the average of comparators. We need urgent action from the Government on this and it must immediately engage with Galway County Council and councillors in this regard.

Táimid i ngéarchéim i gContae na Gaillimhe, faoi láthair, insím don Aire Stáit. Tá an cúig cheantar bardais tar éis a mbuiséad a dhiúltú de bharr easpa maoinithe. Ní féidir leis seo iontas a chur ar aon duine. Tá ionadaithe tofa á ardú é seo le blianta. In 2020, bhí an dara caiteachas is lú in aghaidh an duine ag Contae na Gaillimhe i gcomparáid leis na contaetha eile. Is é sin le rá ach nach raibh ach €714 á chaitheamh in aghaidh an duine, cé go raibh os cionn €1,000 á chaitheamh i gContae an Chláir agus €1,200 á chaitheamh i gContae Liatroma agus beagnach €1,200 i gContae an Longfoirt. Tá an chomhairle ag rá go soiléir nach bhfuil a dhóthain airgid aici leis na seirbhísí a dteastaíonn ar fad uaithi a chur ar fáil don phobal. Caithfidh an Rialtas déileáil leis seo agus labhairt leis an gcomhairle contae agus labhairt leis na comhairleoirí contae freisin.

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising the matter and I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will be very interested in the response as well.

The system of municipal districts as a sub-county level of governance and decision making was introduced as part of the reforms brought about by the Local Government Reform Act 2014. These reforms provided for the dissolution of 80 town councils and the establishment of 95 municipal districts in their place. Within the local authority budget process, municipal districts consider draft budgetary plans before the plenary budget for the wider council, although different arrangements apply in city councils, where there are local area committees rather than municipal districts.

Following consideration, municipal district members may adopt the draft budget with or without amendment. The input from the municipal district members is important to the overall budgetary process and the chief executive of the local authority must have regard to any plan adopted. However, if a municipal district does not adopt a budgetary plan, it does not prevent the continuation of the plenary budget process at county level.

The plenary budget process for local authorities across the country is now under way and I understand Galway County Council will hold its initial meeting on 29 November. The council has 14 days available after that date to adopt a budget for the year ahead and this is among the most important decisions the elected members of local authorities are required to make. The adoption of a sufficient budget that balances local resources with local needs is a key statutory obligation of elected members.

Critical to an effective and self-reliant system of local government is the management of local government finances to support the functions provided. Local authorities have been notified of allocations from various funding Departments and agencies and it now falls to members to consider their overall resources, including how their income from commercial rates, goods and services and the local property tax can be allocated within the authority.

While it is unfortunate that the municipal district members have seemingly not adopted budgetary plans, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has not been advised of that. I advise all members to focus constructively on the forthcoming plenary budget to ensure that a budget is put in place for next year. The elected members have legal responsibility for adopting the annual budget and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority. They must make informed and necessary choices as part of this process. Failure to adopt a plenary budget and determine an annual rate and valuation would be a clear contravention of a council's statutory functions. The Minister notes that Galway County Council has not applied an increase in local property tax for a number of years, nor has it increased commercial rates since 2009. Had Galway County Council availed of the opportunity to raise local property tax by 15% for 2022, it would have benefited from an additional €2.2 million. While such decisions are the democratic rights of the elected members, they must be prepared to take the necessary decisions on the other side of the equation. Comparable counties along the western seaboard have raised the local property tax rate for next year. Clare, Limerick, Donegal and Sligo have raised the rate by 15%, Mayo by 10% and Kerry by 7.5%. Leitrim and Roscommon also raised the local property tax by 15% for next year. Galway County Council is among the exceptions, yet seeks extra funding from the centre.

As stated, it would not be appropriate to increase the funding for Galway County Council only, particularly if the members are reluctant to use local revenue-raising powers. Such an approach could undermine the very principle of local decision-making and would effectively seek to transfer the responsibility for difficult decisions elsewhere.

9:22 am

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State's answer is outrageous. She said it would not be appropriate to increase the funding for Galway County Council only, but we have just outlined the fact that spending per capitafor Galway County Council is significantly lower than in other counties. It is not something that only Sinn Féin is arguing, but it is something that councillors from all parties are saying very clearly. That is why they have rejected the budgets in the municipal districts. They have been clear that there has been underfunding year after year.

The Minister of State also said that had Galway County Council availed of the opportunity to raise local property tax by 15%, it would have an additional €2.2 million. The point is that if the same revenue budget per capitawas available to the council as is available to its closest comparator, there would be an additional budget of €43 million. If the same revenue budget per capita was available to the council as is available to its average comparators, there would be an additional budget of €52 million. That is an enormous amount of money that Galway County Council and the people of Galway county are losing out on.

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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As my colleague said, something does not add up here. It is clear when one looks at counties by size and population that Galway is not getting its fair share. As I said, it is the second largest county in Ireland. We have reached crisis point in Galway and we need the Government to act. It is not good enough to say the council could have increased local property tax or raised revenue through increased commercial rates. We are looking at the amount of money given across all local authorities and there is a clear discrepancy in the funding available to Galway County Council. It is not good enough to say it can raise money elsewhere. We are looking at the exact figure the council is getting from central Government and there is a problem.

There is a problem in the area of staff, particularly outdoor staff. That has a considerable impact across County Galway. I see it in Ballinasloe when it comes to the maintenance of roads or houses. There is a big issue in that regard. The Minister of State did not mention staff. The council also has an acting chief executive. It is interesting that chief executives are replaced almost immediately in neighbouring counties while Galway is left with an acting chief executive. It is not good enough and we need action.

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I will conclude by examining the supports that have been provided to Galway County Council in recent years. Across all schemes and funding sources, the Department provided €51.1 million in 2019 and €82.9 million in 2020 to Galway County Council. The increase in 2020 was due to an increase in capital funding for housing as well as funding in respect of the unprecedented Covid-19 commercial rates waiver, additional expenses and lost income linked to the pandemic. Galway County Council also uniquely received a once-off allocation of €1 million for 2021. This funding was linked to the operation of municipal districts and was subject to a small number of requirements, including that the funding be divided equally among the municipal districts. The Department is currently reviewing correspondence from the council in respect of this funding to determine if each of the conditions have been complied with.

The Department has recently confirmed an allocation towards the additional costs that will arise for local authorities in 2022 as a consequence of the national pay agreements and the unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation. The allocation for Galway County Council will be €4.44 million, the objective of which is to reduce the cost of pay and pensions next year. In addition, local property tax allocations to local authorities for 2022 have been recently confirmed in the amount of €524 million, a figure which includes the impact of local variation decisions. The allocation to Galway County Council for local property tax is €14.5 million. This includes €2.7 million of equalisation funding as the 80% of the local property tax retained locally in Galway's case is lower than the baseline or minimum funding level. All local authorities have the opportunity to vary their local property tax rates by plus or minus 15%. Galway County Council has opted not to avail of this opportunity since 2017. Had it availed of the opportunity to raise the tax, the council would have benefited from an additional €2.2 million.

The adoption of a budget is probably the single most important duty that elected members are called on to carry out each year and I will take this opportunity to remind them of their responsibilities.