Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 246: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide the funding allocated to each local authority from the local government fund in 2011 in tabular form; if he will outline the allocation rules that apply and if he can clarify if funding is distributed on a [i]per capita[/i] basis; if not, the reason therefor; his views that this discriminates against urban areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38800/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I assume the Question refers to General Purpose Grants paid to local authorities from the Local Government Fund. General Purpose Grants are my contribution to meeting the difference between the cost to local authorities of providing a reasonable level of day to day services and the income available to them from local sources and from specific grants.

Local variations in expenditure and in income sources are an inherent feature of the local government system and reflect local circumstances, priorities and decisions of local authorities. General purpose grants from the Local Government Fund are structured to bring about equalisation, over time, so that each authority will have sufficient resources, either from central grants or from its local income base, to provide a reasonable level of day to day services to its customers. For the purposes of allocations, a range of factors is taken into account, including each local authority's expenditure on, and income from, each service, and the overall amount of funding available for distribution.

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. Equally, local authorities must ensure full value for money for the resources invested, and seek the maximum efficiency across their operations. The 2011 general purpose grant payment in respect of each local authority is set out in the table. In addition, local authorities will retain some €85 million in pension related deductions in 2011 .