Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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345. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount of income Donegal receives as a top-up from central government each year since 2013, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62889/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Central Government has traditionally provided non-programme funding to local authorities; in the form of an annual contribution towards meeting the cost of providing a reasonable level of service in their area. Up until 2014, this was in the form of a General Purpose Grant (GPG), and in 2015, it was replaced by Local Property Tax (LPT) allocations, which were linked, to the most part to the GPGs. The GPG paid to Donegal County Council in 2013 and 2014 was €31.1m and €22.7m respectively. There was a decrease in 2014 due to the transfer of water-related services from local authorities to the new entity, Irish Water.

Under the LPT allocation model, every local authority has a minimum level of funding available to it, known as the baseline. If the estimated LPT yield in a local authority area is lower than an authority’s baseline, the authority is topped-up or equalised to that baseline by the Exchequer. The equalisation provided to Donegal from 2013 to 2026 is as set out in table below;

It should be noted that in the years up to, and including, 2022, all local authorities contributed 20% of overall yield towards equalisation, and the figures in the table above are net of Donegal's contribution. From 2023 onwards, all equalisation comes from the exchequer.

Donegal's equalisation funding of €17.2m in 2026, will bring the LPT allocation up to it's baseline level of €27.4m and it is worth noting that this is the highest equalisation funding of any authority. Donegal will receive an additional €1.5m due to its decision to vary LPT upwards by 15%, bringing its total LPT allocation in 2026 to almost €29m.