Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 April 2016
750. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the local authority block grant funding his Department provided to Sligo County Council in each of the years 2010 to 2016 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5522/16]
View answerI assume that the Question refers to General Purpose Grants from the Local Government Fund. General Purpose Grants were a contribution from my Department towards meeting the cost to local authorities of providing a reasonable level of services to their customers. The amount paid to local authorities from the Local Government Fund for General Purpose Grants in 2014 recognised the removal of water related costs from local authorities to Irish Water in that year and are therefore not comparable to previous years. In 2015 General Purpose Grants to Local Authorities were replaced by Local Property Tax allocations.
The table below details the payments made to Sligo County and Borough Councils from 2010 to date in 2016.
|
Year |
Sligo County Council |
Sligo Borough Council |
Total |
|
2010 |
€15,022,723.84 |
€2,631,231.51 |
€17,653,955.35 |
|
2011 |
€13,916,895.76 |
€2,269,402.39 |
€16,186,298.15 |
|
2012 |
€13,307,871.30 |
€2,095,432.52 |
€15,403,303.82 |
|
2013 |
€13,584,307.00 |
€2,000,541.00 |
€15,584,848.00 |
|
2014 |
€ 9,243,352.00 |
0 |
€ 9,243,352.00 |
|
2015 |
€ 9,993,352.12 |
0 |
€ 9,993,352.12 |
|
2016 (to date) |
€ 2,997,784.00 |
0 |
€ 2,997,784.00 |
The 2015 figure includes a payment of €1m in additional funding to assist the council to take the steps necessary to move to a more sustainable financial position. The payment of this additional funding for 2015 was fully conditional on a realistic and achievable financial plan, which charted a path to long term financial sustainability, being agreed between my Department and the Council.
Similarly for 2016, €1m has been set aside in addition to the Local Property Tax allocation of €8,993,352. Payment of this additional €1m is conditional on the council achieving financial targets as profiled in the agreed financial plan.
The Local Property Tax allocations for 2015 and 2016 also include equalisation funding of €5,646,509 and €5,861,427 respectively.
