Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 December 2015
207. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of road tax paid in County Louth and the proportion of same spent in the county in each of the years 2014 to date. [44481/15]
View answerGross motor tax receipts (including payments made online at www.motortax.ie) in County Louth were €27,827,768 in 2014. Gross receipts to 30 November 2015 were €25,257,942. Income from Motor Tax currently accrues to the Local Government Fund (LGF). Other funding sources that contribute to the LGF are Local Property Tax (LPT) and a payment from the Exchequer. Historically the LGF provided local authorities with finance for funding for some day-to-day activities (through General Purpose Grant allocations); for non-national roads; and for certain local government initiatives. This year an allocation of LPT has replaced General Purpose Grant allocations. The LGF continues to provide support for non-national roads via a payment to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (estimated at approximately €364m in 2015).
A summary of the funding, including the LPT allocation, provided by my Department directly to Louth County Council in 2014 and to date in 2015, is set out in the following table.
|
Year |
Total € |
|
2014 |
24,827,303.62 |
|
2015 (YTD) |
23,654,153.16 |
Central Government funding to local authorities presents a complicated picture, with transfers coming from a range of Departments and Offices, for a variety of purposes, rather than solely from my Department. Some streams of funding are delivered directly from funding departments to local authorities, while others are routed through departmental agencies. The Comptroller and Auditor General reports on the Central Government funding of local authorities as part of his Annual Report which provides an overview of the funds flowing from and through central government sources to local authorities and the purposes for which funds have been provided. The most recent report is available at the following link: http://www.audgen.gov.ie/documents/annualreports/2014/report/en/10%20central%20government%20funding%20of%20local%20authorities.pdf.
