Vol. 525 No. 3
313 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has satisfied himself with the equity of the operation of the local government fund through the equalisation under needs and resources model; and the proposals he has to modify it for future years. [24995/00]
There has been a widespread dissatisfaction for many years because of the perception that grants from my Department to support local authorities' current expenditure have not been distributed on an equitable basis. The development of the needs and resources model is an attempt to facilitate the allocation of monies from the local government fund on a basis which supports the ability of all local authorities to provide services of a high standard and creates greater transparency and objectivity in the shareout of these funds.
For the first time, the model allows for the individual circumstances of local authorities, in terms of their needs and resources, to be taken into account in a measured way in the determination of grants. I am satisfied that the underlying methodology of the model, which is the prototype, provides the basis for a far more equitable method of allocating local government fund grants than the previous system. However, I would add that the model is still in its early stages of development and will require refinement and expansion on an ongoing basis to become more sensitive to the challenges of individual authorities or groups of authorities. In this regard, my Department will be establishing a process to review and improve the model and it is my intention that local authorities themselves will be directly involved in this process. As a first step, my Department will organise before the end of the year a number of regional seminars for local authorities to examine the model.
