Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Work is being done at present. What has happened in recent times is that the largest allocation is made at the beginning of the year. This gives local authorities the ability to plan what they will do and, for various reasons, such as Supplementary Estimates or stimulus funding becoming available, additional money is made available on top of the base allocation. At present, I am reasonably confident the initial allocation I will make - in other words the plan for the year - will be roughly in line with the position which obtained a year ago. If further funding becomes available in the course of the year, it will fall to the next Government to decide where it might be allocated. This is what has happened in recent years.