Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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18. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide a report on the funding streams from his Department to local authorities; if the local authorities will be fully reimbursed for the increase in the pay and pension bill by the recent public sector agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56464/22]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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24. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on funding for local government, given the pressures being faced by local authorities due to energy inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59841/22]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 24 together.

The funding system that applies to local authorities in Ireland is a complex one, as those authorities derive their income from a variety of sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and funding from Central Government, including my Department but also other government departments and state bodies.

Across all schemes and funding sources, my Department provided €3.98 billion in 2020, €4.07 billion in 2021 and over €2.86 billion so far in 2022 (as at mid November) to all local authorities.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) publishes a report on the central government funding of local government. The most recent report refers to 2021 and is available on the website of the C&AG.

In 2023, in addition to the allocation of estimated Local Property Tax yield of €492m, the Government is making a significant contribution of €481m via the Local Government Fund to support local authorities.

As regards the impact of the recent public sector national pay agreement, €209.6 million has been allocated in 2022 and €287.2 in 2023 towards assisting local authorities with the cumulative effect on pay costs arising from the National Pay Agreements and the unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation.These allocations include the impact of the most recently ratified pay agreements and will ensure that local authorities will have the necessary resources, in terms of people, to perform their functions and provide essential public services to our citizens; in excess of one thousand services in fact.

It should be noted that the pay allocation is calculated by the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform (DPER) and is based on their most recent available payroll data, as submitted by the local government sector. DPER have assured my Department that they are committed to covering the full cost of public service pay agreements arising for local authorities, as for all other public servants.

I am acutely aware of the current financial environment in which local authorities are now operating and, in recognition of the ongoing pressures, additional support of €60m (included in the €481m already mentioned) has been recently secured to assist the sector. The allocation is to assist local authorities with increased costs in 2023, and in particular, rising energy costs.

My Department also recently advised local authorities of support of €23.3m, on a once off basis in recognition of the loss of commercial rates income following the conclusion of valuation appeals by certain global utility companies.

Any additional funding requests for the Local Government sector must be agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform; and will be considered within the parameters of the national fiscal and budgetary situation, and the competing priorities presenting themselves currently at a national level.

Weblink to be included with the official record: www.audit.gov.ie/en/find-report/publications/2022/6-central-government-funding-of-local-authorities.pdf.