Máirín Quill
Question:122 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment the amount of the block grant in lieu of rates on domestic dwellings paid to Kildare County Council in each of the years from 1977 to 1994. [15408/95]
Written Answers. - Rate Support Grant.
Máirín Quill
Question:123 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment if the block grant to Kildare County Council has kept pace with the rate of inflation. [15410/95]
Máirín Quill
Question:124 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment if the block grant to Kildare County Council has kept pace with the rise in population. [15411/95]
Máirín Quill
Question:125 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment if the block grant to Kildare County Council is in strict proportion to the block grants given to other local authorities. [15412/95]
Máirín Quill
Question:126 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment if the block grant to Kildare County Council is out of proportion due to not having been adjusted to the rate of inflation for the years from 1977 to 1995 and due to the rise in population from around 70,000 in 1977 to 120,000 in 1995; and the action, if any, he proposes to take to rectify the situation. [15413/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 122, 123, 124, 125 and 126 together.
The rate support grant is paid to local authorities each year to replace, in part, the income from rates formerly applicable to domestic dwellings, agricultural land and Government property. The initial method of calculating the grant reflected that income, which varied from local authority to local authority because of differences in valuation levels and in the rate poundages determined over the years. Levels of rate support grant paid to each individual authority have been adjusted over the past decade to take account of structural adjustments in the system of local finance, including in particular, the removal from local authorities of a variety of statutory demands, and the writing off of local loans fund repayments. For reasons such as these, comparisons between the amounts paid in grants in particular years are not a valid indication of the level of State support for particular authorities, or of the rate of increase or decrease in that support in relation to population, inflation or other factors.
Where increased overall allocations for the rate support grant have been made available in the Estimates for a particular year, the additional funds have generally been allocated on apro rata basis among all local authorities. However, adjustments have been made in individual cases, particularly in 1994 and 1995, arising from special provisions to reduce debt levels and to deal with other structural problems.
The grant payments to Kildare County Council for the years 1977-1994 are set out in the following table.
Rate Support Grant Allocations 1977-94
Kildare County Council
|
£ |
|
|
1977 |
1,085,218 |
|
1978 |
1,685,902 |
|
1979 |
1,887,425 |
|
1980 |
2,179,633 |
|
1981 |
2,861,022 |
|
1982 |
4,217,989 |
|
1983 |
5,693,580 |
|
1984 |
5,691,219 |
|
1985 |
5,908,880 |
|
1986 |
5,407,952 |
|
1987 |
5,473,559 |
|
1988 |
4,324,569 |
|
1989 |
4,123,316 |
|
1990 |
4,216,000 |
|
1991 |
4,277,837 |
|
1992 |
4,277,837 |
|
1993 |
4,395,643 |
|
1994 |
4,708,137 |