Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If we fast-forward to budget 2026, €670 million was allocated to the same fund. It is clear that we are underfunding the services we desperately need at a local level and centralising spending at a local level. An OECD report in 2019 found that Ireland had the lowest level of decentralisation and local government spending relative to GDP. The Council of Europe publicly warned in 2023 that local government in Ireland was excessively centralised to the detriment of democratic representation and service delivery. Likewise, recent research conducted in Maynooth University found that Ireland's local authorities ranked well below the European average in democratic accountability, financial independence and power of initiative. It said that in many cases councils were essentially relegated to admin annexes of the national government.

It is interesting to hear Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Senators say what needs to be done. Senator Ahearn gave a list of what needs to be done. I remind him that he has been in government for 14 years. Why did he wait until now to do it?