Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 470: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the way he will provide funding for local authorities in view of serious financial difficulties, large borrowings and expansion of core services being experienced by many county councils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16203/08]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 479: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if provisions are in place to subsidise county and city councils who find themselves with a significant budgetary shortfall; if his attention has been drawn to a city or county council that is approaching such a situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16450/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 470 and 479 together.

It is a matter for each local authority to prioritise its spending, within the resources available to it, across the range of services it provides. I am providing some €999.2m in general purpose grants from the Local Government Fund to local authorities for 2008. These grants are my contribution to meet the difference between the cost to local authorities of providing an acceptable level of day to day services and the income available to them from local sources and from specific grants. The amount being made available for these grants this year represents an increase of some €51.5m over the provision for 2007 and continues the trend of providing additional general purpose funding to local authorities through the Local Government Fund. Local authorities' cost and income bases vary from one to another and calculating an appropriate distribution of general purpose grants is complex. For purposes of allocations, a range of factors is taken into account, including each authority's expenditure on, and income from, each service, the overall amount of funding available for the grants and the need to provide each authority with an allocation that will support its financial stability. I am satisfied that the general purpose allocations I have provided for 2008, together with the income available from other sources, will enable local authorities to provide an acceptable level of services to their customers.