Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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268. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the amount of funding allocated to Fingal County Council in 2016 and 2017; the sources of this funding; the way in which this funding is spent by the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7434/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a wide and diverse business agenda, including providing necessary housing supports and fostering communities in partnership with local government and other local development bodies. In order to deliver on this broad agenda, my Department allocates significant resources to a wide range of organisations, including local authorities. The total funding provided by my Department directly to Fingal County Council in 2016 was €53.3m. To date in 2017 €4.6m has been provided.

If the Deputy wishes to put down a more specific question concerning funding for a specific purpose from my Department, I will endeavour to provide the information sought.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the details of representations made in the past year to his Department regarding the funding crisis in Galway County Council; the response of the Department to these representations; if there is ongoing dialogue between the county council and his Department in relation to this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7451/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter for each local authority to determine its own spending priorities in the context of the annual budgetary process having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources. The elected members of a local authority are responsible for all reserved functions of the authority, which include adopting the annual budget and authorising borrowing, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority.

At a recent meeting, the Chief Executive of Galway County Council raised the issue of the councils’ funding position with me. He also provided me with a submission on the matter, which is being examined by my Department.

My Department has worked closely with the local government sector in recent months through the County and City Management Association in the preparation of a consistent and evidence based approach to the various funding pressures, on a sector wide basis. This work helped inform decisions concerning the distribution of resources within the parameters of the national and fiscal budgetary position and the competing priorities presenting themselves at Governmental level. Notwithstanding these competing priorities I ensured, in the approach to Budget 2017, that funding for the sector was secured in a number of areas, including in respect of pay costs and water related costs.