Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I note what the Senators have said about Galway being the seventh-largest centre of population and the comments around FEMPI and core funding, which are important. I acknowledge that Galway County Council moved to increase commercial rates for 2022 to increase the level of funding available to the council, which made an important contribution to the overall position. Of course, Senators are aware that local authorities may also vary their local property tax rate by up to 15%. Authorities that increase the rate retain 100% of the additional income, whereas local authorities that decrease the rate bear the full reduction in income. Galway County Council has opted not to avail of this opportunity to raise additional locally sourced income since 2018. I am told the council could have benefited from an additional €2.2 million in 2022 if it had applied the additional 15% upward local variation in the same way as many other local authorities have. That said, the funding position of Galway County Council will be kept under during the 2023 Estimates process. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, has an interest in today's contributions and will work very closely with the Senators. He recognises the work done to date for Galway County Council and will continue to support the Senators in their roles.