Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 April 2014
140. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown by departmental or Estimate Vote source of all central Exchequer funding to be received by Dublin City Council in 2014, whether as grants, through the Local Government Fund as a block grant, or through the SLA with Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15698/14]
View answerThe elected members of a local authority have direct responsibility in law for all reserved functions of the authority, which includes adopting the annual budget, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority. Dublin City Council's budget is available on its website, www.dublincity.ie.
The Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2014, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, provides for €889 million in funding this year to be expended in support of the Department's programmes which include protecting the environment, providing necessary housing supports and fostering community and rural development, in partnership with local government and other local development bodies.
It is not possible at this juncture to predict final allocations to be made to individual local authorities for 2014, including Dublin City Council, with any degree of precision across functional areas. Allocations will ultimately depend on a variety of factors including progress on individual projects, availability of alternative sources of funding, drawdown of funding and expenditure patterns throughout the year.
While the total amount to be allocated to Dublin City Council has not been set, the Council's 2014 Budget, anticipates funding of some €61m from my Department, €58m of which is related to the provision of necessary housing supports as well as some €3m across a range of smaller programmes. The amount expected to be paid to Dublin City Council from the Local Government Fund for general purpose grants in 2014 is € 2,667,330; this figure recognises the removal of water related costs from the local authority to Irish Water in 2014.
The amount to be paid by Irish Water to Dublin City Council under a Service Level Agreement is a matter for Irish Water and Dublin City Council. My Department has asked Irish Water to put in place specific arrangements to address the queries which public representatives may have in relation to matters pertaining to the operation of water services under the new utility. I understand that Irish Water has made contact with Oireachtas members to outline the arrangements for addressing such queries in a timely manner.
