Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. I wish to be associated with his comments on John McKeon. I spoke to him yesterday and he is out of hospital after seven months. That is a huge achievement for him in terms of getting through his illness. He is a credit to the local authority in Longford. I am sure he will be back at work shortly. I look forward to engaging with him again.

As I said, I thank Senator Carrigy for constantly bringing this issue up with my office. I acknowledge the funding pressures on local authorities generally, and specifically the negative impact on the commercial rates income caused by the closure of the Lough Ree power station in Longford. It is recognised that the authority was very reliant on rates from the now closed power station which, as the Senator said, accounted for approximately 16% of the rates receipts for the county in 2019. To alleviate this negative impact, my Department has provided compensatory funding to the local authority at a cost of €1.4 million in 2021 and €1.3 million in 2022.I am pleased to confirm that this arrangement will continue in 2023, with support of €1.3 million being secured as part of the recent budgetary process.

As committed to in the programme for Government, Our Shared Future, the move to 100% retention of local property tax, LPT, will take place in 2023. All equalisation funding will now be met by the Exchequer to ensure that all authorities receive, at a minimum, an amount equivalent to their baseline. This increased equalisation requirement will come to €118 million in 2023. The LPT allocation to Longford for 2023 will be €8.9 million and this will include €6.9 million of equalisation funding from the Exchequer. As the Senator may be aware, all local authorities have the opportunity to increase or decrease their basic rate of LPT by 15%. I acknowledge the elected members of Longford County Council for recently taking the decision, as the Senator outlined, to increase the rate by 15% for 2023 and 2024. This upward variation on what is a relatively low base will lead to almost €300,000 in extra income for 2023 alone, which should be of great assistance in what is a challenging financial time ahead.

The Government is making a significant contribution of €333 million in 2023 to support the local government sector. A large portion of this figure, totalling almost €199 million, will go towards assisting local authorities with the cumulative effect on pay costs arising from the national pay arrangements and the unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation. This allocation will ensure the sector will have the necessary resources, in terms of people, to perform its functions and provide in excess of 1,000 essential public services to citizens. Furthermore, as in previous years, my Department will engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in respect of any additional pay increases that are confirmed for 2023. While the individual allocations for 2023 have yet to be confirmed, it should be noted that Longford County Council will receive €1.6 million towards increased payroll costs for 2022.

I am very aware of the current financial environment in which local authorities are operating and, in recognition of this ongoing pressure, additional support of €60 million has been secured for the sector as part of the budgetary process. This funding is additional to the €333 million already secured towards LPT, payroll and other miscellaneous schemes. The purpose of this additional funding will be to assist Longford County Council and other local authorities in meeting the increasing costs involved in providing a wide range of services. My Department will continue to engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the issues facing the sector at this time.