Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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717. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department has conducted regular reviews of local government funding in the past; if so, when such reviews took place; the frequency of reviews; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40604/21]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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718. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way his Department determines the local government funding each local authority receives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40605/21]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 717 and 718 together.

My Department conducts annual reviews of funding as part of the Estimates Process in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). In addition to these reviews, we engage in monthly reporting to DPER on both current and capital expenditure. We also conduct reviews of capital expenditure in the form of a management report for Government.

Through the Local Government Fund, my Department also provides local authorities with their Local Property Tax (LPT) payments, a contribution towards their pay and pension costs and support for a number of smaller schemes including part of their fire and emergency services.

Local retention of LPT began in 2015 and since then the overall principles and allocation methodology have broadly remained the same. 80% of LPT is retained in the area it is collected, with the other 20% supporting equalisation for local authorities with LPT bases lower than their funding baseline. Baselines are linked for the most part to funding previously allocated to local authorities as General Purpose Grants; LPT allocations replaced these grants from 2015 on.