Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, Galway County Council has reached the bottom of the league in terms of State funding per capitain terms of county council funding. I am not surprised because Galway County Council has been one of the most under-funded councils for a number of years. Unfortunately, it is official that Galway County Council has reached the bottom of the table. Galway County Council was second last for a number of years but Meath County Council has now overtaken us but is still in the relegation zone.

Galway County Council is way behind comparable counties of the same size such as Mayo, Donegal, Tipperary and Kerry. This situation has been known for some time and the Department officials have been very aware of same. Many promises have been made at Department and ministerial levels to rectify the situation, yet we still await a solution. We are being fobbed off with the excuse that a review of the local property tax is taking place. While recognising the situation in Galway and providing a certain amount of additional funding through the former Minister of State at the Department, Deputy John Paul Phelan, the current Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, and the current Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the situation has not improved and it is increasingly difficult to get budgets passed. I call for a debate on local authority funding to be arranged because we need to find solutions for counties like Galway which have huge ambitions in terms of the delivery of services by local authorities, and there is a huge demand for services by residents. For years it was debated whether the local authority would be amalgamated with Galway City Council. Whether right or wrong, the option to amalgamate is off the table. We still need to arrange a stable level of funding for Galway County Council to enable it deliver services that the residents, taxpayers and local property tax payers in the county deserve.