Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2012
446. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the allocation South Dublin County Council received from the Local Government Fund in 2011 and 2012; the amount by which the fund was reduced as a result of the rate of payment of the household charge in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51091/12]
View answer447. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the allocation Fingal County Council received from the Local Government Fund in 2011 and 2012; the amount by which the fund was reduced as a result of the rate of payment of the household charge in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51092/12]
View answer448. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the allocation Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council received from the Local Government Fund in 2011 and 2012; the amount by which the fund was reduced as a result of the rate of payment of the household charge in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51093/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 446 to 448, inclusive, together.
I assume the Questions relate to General Purpose Grants from the Local Government Fund. The two principal sources of revenue for the Local Government Fund are the proceeds of motor tax and the income from the Household Charge. The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides that income from the charge is to be paid into the Local Government Fund. The proceeds from the household charge are being re-distributed on an equalised basis to local authorities within the context of the annual allocations of general purpose grants. General purpose grants contribute towards meeting the reasonable cost to local authorities of providing services to their customers. Some €651m in general purpose grants had been allocated to local authorities for 2012. It has been necessary for me to reduce general purpose grant funding to local authorities in the third quarter of 2012 in light of the level of compliance with the household charge.
It is estimated that there are some 1.6 million residential properties potentially liable for the household charge. As such, if collected in full, the household charge has the potential to raise €160 million annually. As of 16 of November 2012 some €107.7 m or over 66% had been collected nationally. A total of €15,695,292 was withheld from the Quarter 3 general purpose grant payment. For county and city councils, this represented a reduction of between 1% and 3% of the total general purpose grant allocation for 2012.
Local authorities can maintain the remainder of their general purpose grant allocation for 2012 through improved household charge compliance. Those authorities achieving a collection rate of 65% nationally will not have a further reduction in their final quarter general purpose grant payment. Local authorities achieving a collection rate of 60-65% will incur a further reduction of 0.5%, while those authorities achieving a compliance rate below 60% will incur a further 1% reduction in their annual allocation.
I am confident that the level of general purpose grants together with other Government grants and subsidies, and income raised from local sources, is appropriate to meet the costs of providing a reasonable level of local authority services to communities.
The information requested is set out in the following table.
|
Local Authority |
Allocation 2011 € |
Allocation 2012 € |
Quarter 3 2012 Reduction € |
Revised 2012 Allocation € |
% Reduction in 2012 |
|
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council |
31,522,005 |
25,780,316 |
343,583 |
25,436,733 |
1.3% |
|
Fingal County Council |
26,267,018 |
20,455,071 |
545,285 |
19,909,786 |
2.7% |
|
South Dublin County Council |
21,709,971 |
16,963,904 |
475,210 |
16,488,694 |
2.8% |
