Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2026
1581. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has assessed the regional distribution of Exchequer funding to local authorities over the past five years; the methodology used in any such assessment; whether disparities in per capita funding between local authorities have been identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59066/26]
View answer1582. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department has commissioned an independent review of the methodologies used to distribute Exchequer funding to local authorities taking account of the challenges faced by large rural counties, including extensive road networks, scattered population centres and higher infrastructure maintenance costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59068/26]
View answer1583. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether consideration is being given as part of future Budgets to providing additional financial resources for local authorities with significant infrastructure maintenance responsibilities, particularly large rural counties such as Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59173/26]
View answer1879. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to set out in full the methodology used to determine the annual funding allocation to each local authority; the weighting attached to each criterion including population, geographical area, road network, deprivation, locally raised income and service demand; the funding allocated per capita to every county council for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59053/26]
View answer1880. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total Exchequer funding allocated to Galway County Council in each of the past five years; the equivalent per capita allocation; the way this compares with Mayo County Council, Roscommon County Council, Clare County Council and the national average; and if he will outline the reasons for any disparity. [59054/26]
View answer1881. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he will undertake an independent review of the local authority funding model to determine whether counties with extensive rural road networks, dispersed populations and significant infrastructure responsibilities, including Galway, are receiving an equitable level of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59055/26]
View answer1882. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether consideration is given within the local authority funding model to the additional costs associated with maintaining one of the largest rural road networks in the State, together with dispersed settlements and extensive public infrastructure across County Galway; and if he will outline the plans to revise the funding model to better reflect those costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59058/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1581, 1582, 1583, 1879, 1880, 1881 and 1882 together.
The funding system for local authorities is complex, with authorities deriving income from a variety of sources, including commercial rates, charges for goods and services, Local Property Tax (LPT), and funding from Government Departments and other bodies.
Central Government funding of local authorities comprises both current and capital transfers provided by a wide range of Departments and Offices for a variety of purposes. Local authorities vary significantly in terms of size, population, population distribution, public service demands, infrastructure requirements and other income sources, all of which should be considered when comparing funding levels across local authority areas.
Most Exchequer funding is provided for specific services and can broadly be grouped into five programme categories: recreation and amenity, education, environment, housing and transport. Some funding streams are provided directly to local authorities by Government Departments, while others are channelled through State agencies.
My Department is an important source of funding and has overall responsibility at central government level for the local government system, together with responsibility for specific functional and service areas such as planning, housing and fire services. However, responsibility for a number of other local authority functions rests with other Government Departments and State bodies. Accordingly, my Department does not have a funding, reporting or co-ordinating role in relation to functions that fall within those remits, and does not collate information on, or have responsibility for, the funding distribution methodologies applied by those bodies.
The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a matter for the relevant local authority under Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Funding for these works is provided from local authorities’ own resources, supplemented by State grants. Responsibility for the provision and distribution of such grants rests with my colleague, the Minister for Transport.
The attached table relates solely to funding provided by my Department to each local authority during the period 2021 to 2025, together with the population of each local authority based on the 2022 Census and the corresponding per capita allocation.
Funding provided under housing programmes, and voluntary call schemes such as the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is largely determined by individual local authority ambition and activity. In 2025, a sizeable portion of funding to Galway County Council from this Department, almost €93m, was in respect of a range of capital and current housing programmes. It is crucial to note that my Department does not provide specific funding allocations to local authorities for housing delivery, but rather recoups the relevant local authorities as projects advance and claims fall due for payment in line with the relevant scheme conditions. With regard to URDF Calls 1 and 2, Galway County Council secured funding for the one project applied for, and under URDF Call 3, Galway County Council secured €3 million, close to the average funding provided to all of the non-metropolitan area local authorities, of which the Council still has €2.91 million available in its fund.
In respect of Local Property Tax funding, an important determinant of this allocation for is the baseline; which is the minimum level of funding available to each local authority from LPT. Following a review in 2023, baselines for each local authority were adjusted in accordance with five criteria: population, area, deprivation levels, an authority’s locally raised income and achievement of National Policy Priorities, with every authority receiving a minimum increase of €1.5m. This led to an overall baseline increase of €75.4m in 2024. Following the review, Galway County received an uplift in baseline of €5.8m, which was the second largest increase of any authority. A summary report which outlines the weighting and application of the criteria to individual baselines is available at this link:
www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/summary-report-on-local-property-tax-baseline-review-2023/
There has been a further increase of €42m to the overall baselines in 2026, in line with the expected increased yield from the revaluation. As a result of both of these changes, Galway County’s baseline has seen a significant increase of over €7m, or almost 50%, in a three-year period (from 2023 to 2026). While Galway County has the second largest area and 10th largest population of any authority, on balance this would appear to be fairly reflected by the fact that Galway County now has the fifth highest baseline in the country.
The baseline has been increased twice in just three years, and the intention is that baselines will be reviewed every five years in line with updated census data, as well as periodic review in line with LPT revaluation cycles. It would not be appropriate or equitable to examine the baselines of individual authorities outside these sector wide reviews.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the LPT allocation represents just 12% of Galway County’s revenue income in 2025. It is a finite income source, being dependent on the level of LPT collected in Galway and across the State, so the scope for significant increases are limited.
In addition to Local Property Tax allocations and Departmental Grants and Subsidies, local authorities derive income from local sources including commercial rates, and goods and services such as housing rents, environmental and other charges. It is a matter for each local authority as to how it can maximise income sources and manage its own spending, in the context of the annual budgetary process. It is important to acknowledge that Galway County Council has made significant progress in this area in more recent years and should be commended in this regard.
