Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cork went through an equalisation initiative five years ago. We equalised the town council rate base on the back of the local authority base, which was a significant body of work in which I was very much involved at the time. It meant we could move everyone to the same rate base. We have been stagnant, in many ways, regarding rate collections and those kinds of issues.The business community is very concerned. Businesses are a key driver and they are the heart and soul when it comes to local authority funds. We are losing a significant rate base around the city, as I said, and there is a worry that the existing rate base will be left to fill the hole. There is a genuine concern among the entire business community in the county that this could be a financial issue for them.

The very important issue of the funding stability we will have over the next decade has been raised. Cork has the largest road infrastructure of any county and we have significant infrastructural issues. Without the rate base around the city, we will put serious pressure on our existing rate base. These are key issues. The Minister of State might elaborate on how he believes the Department can work with the local authority to ensure it can provide services. As the Leader said very eloquently, this is about providing services to the people, whether home improvement grants for the elderly, roads or social housing maintenance. These are all local government streams of funding that we need to be able to survive as an entity. We need clarity because there is insecurity in this regard. Very little clarity is forthcoming because we do not have an implementation body and we are awaiting decisions on what will happen. This is why the Minister of State needs to clarify whether the general community, from Kinsale to Bantry, will have the level of services it requires to be able just to exist. This is a real issue for us. The Minister of State might be able to bring clarity. If not, he might draw up a roadmap as to where we might get clarity so we will not have a situation whereby the only way the county will survive is to punish the ratepayer and in turn have a major impact on society.