Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 September 2026
481. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason local authorities with limited resources, that serve economically disadvantaged counties, such as Donegal County Council, are expected to co-fund multi-million capital projects, funded by central Government to the same level as all other local authorities. [68037/26]
View answerAcross some Government funding schemes, local authorities are required to contribute a proportion of costs as part of the overall funding arrangement. This approach offers a number of benefits; encouraging local commitment and ownership of projects, and helping Departments and Agencies maximise the impact of available resources, enabling support for a broader range of projects across the sector. The application of match-funding requirements is a matter for individual Government Departments and Agencies, reflecting the specific objectives and design of each funding programme.
The Local Democracy Taskforce has recently completed its work, making a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening local government governance, finance, and democratic accountability, and implementation is now being progressed across the local government sector. In considering the issue of match funding, the Taskforce recognised both the benefits of this approach and the growing pressures arising from associated funding obligations, particularly where these have a disproportionate impact on authorities with differing financial capacities and expenditure demands. Among its recommendations is the formal adoption of an updated Service Level Agreement template and accompanying guidance for centrally funded services and schemes delivered by local authorities, with revisions to reflect key Taskforce objectives. One of these revisions requires Government Departments to consider match-funding requirements on an authority-by-authority basis, and to reduce them where possible and appropriate. Implementation of the broad range of recommendations will progress over the coming years, with an immediate focus on those set for delivery by March 2027.
