Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 302: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount he allocated in 2006 by town, to town councils that were former town commissioners; when allocations will be made in 2007; his views on other similar initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3359/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In 2005, I introduced a special grant for the provision and improvement of footpaths in town council areas which were former town commissioners. These grants are paid to the county council who are road authorities for the area. The grants allocated in 2006 and 2007 are outlined in the table below. The grants fund of the cost of works with county councils providing the balance.

More generally, town councils which were formally town commissioners are financed through the imposition of town charges which are collected by the county council in whose area the town council is situated.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 303: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount allocated to local authorities for maintenance of non-national roads in 2006 by authority; when allocations will be made in 2007; the way this compares with the amounts allocated by councils themselves; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3365/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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On 18 January, 2007, I announced the 2007 grant allocation for non-national roads, which at over €607.5 million represents an increase of 9%, or almost €50 million, on the 2006 allocation.

Details of the specific 2006 maintenance grant payments and the 2007 maintenance grant allocations to county councils are given in the following table below.

Annual Block Grants are allocated to City, Borough and Town Councils for the improvement and maintenance of non-national roads in their areas. Special Block Grants for non-national roads, which must be used for the restoration of footpaths and carriageways, are also allocated annually to urban authorities. The selection of works to be funded from these grant allocations is a matter for individual authorities, subject to the conditions contained in my Department's Memorandum on Grants for Non-National Roads, 2001, and a breakdown of expenditure between improvement and maintenance works is not available. Details of the 2006 block grant and special block grant payments and the 2007 block grant and special block grant allocations to urban authorities are given in the following table.

Information regarding own resources expenditure by local authorities on the maintenance of non-national roads is not available in my Department.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the analysis that has been carried out by his Department into the spending power of local authorities on a per capita basis; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that when the local government fund is added to the amount available in commercial rates, Counties Meath and Kildare have the lowest per capita income; the way the census of population was used to provide for additional population in rapidly expanding areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3367/07]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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General purpose grants from the Local Government Fund are provided to supplement the income available to local authorities from local sources and from specific grants to enable them to provide an acceptable level of day to day services. Calculating an appropriate distribution of general purpose grants is complex because of the significant variations between the cost and income bases of different local authorities. While the population data from the 2006 Provisional Census Report were used in the analysis by my Department as part of the 2007 allocations process, it would not be appropriate to use population as the main determinant in this regard as a wide range of factors affect the cost of providing services. For example, my Department, takes account of each local authority's expenditure on, and income from, each service provided as well as matters such as the infrastructure each authority must maintain and operate, planning enforcement activity, population and the cost of administering their functional areas.

This year, I am providing some €947.6m in general purpose grants to local authorities. This represents an increase of 8% over 2006 and an increase of some 180% since this Government came into office in 1997. The increases in general purpose funding provided to Meath and Kildare County Council in the latter period were 194% and 214% respectively.

I consider that the general purpose allocations from the Local Government Fund notified to local authorities for 2007, together with the income available to them from other sources, will enable all local authorities to provide an appropriate level of services for their customers.