Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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293. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the overall level of funding to local authorities in each of the years 2011 to 2017, inclusive, and to date in 2018. [46281/18]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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294. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the level of funding to each of the local authorities in each of the years 2011 to 2017, inclusive, and to date in 2018. [46282/18]

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 293 and 294 together.

My Department has a broad agenda, including providing necessary housing and planning supports in partnership with local authorities. To deliver on this agenda, my Department allocates significant resources to local authorities.

The table below details funding to local authorities from my Department as it was configured in each year from 2011 to 31st October 2018. The figures include funding from the Departmental Vote, the Local Government Fund and, from 2011 to October 2016, the Environment Fund, before it transferred to the responsibility of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.  

Central Government funding of local government is a complex matter, with transfers coming from a wide range of Departments and Offices, not solely from my Department, for a variety of purposes. Some streams of funding are delivered directly from funding departments to local authorities, while others are routed through departmental agencies. Some elements of funding are project-specific, giving rise to changes in funding from one year to another, depending on a project's progression. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) reports on the Central Government funding of local authorities as part of his Annual Report, which provides an overview of the funds flowing from and through central government sources to local authorities and the purposes for which funds have been provided. The relevant part of the most recent report can be viewed at the link below.

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[Table cont]