Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of Councillor Joe Malone, who does Trojan work and advocacy for local councillors. It is a well established fact that local authorities in Ireland are ineffectual. The Irish State is one of the most centralised democracies in Europe. City and county councils have not been given powers to address the issues facing their communities, much less the funding to deliver what is needed. We only have to look at the thousands of residents living in the flat complexes and people living in the inner city to recognise how local government has failed.

In 2008, Phil Hogan announced the Local Government Fund allocation in budget 2009 of €1.6 billion to local authorities.