Vol. 436 No. 4
36 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for the Environment if he took account of the results of the study carried out by the Institute of Fiscal Studies on the role of central grants in local finance in the Republic of Ireland 1991 when allocating the 1994 rate support grants to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The 1991 report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies recommended that the distribution of the rate support grant should be the subject of a separate study. The IFS were commissioned to undertake the further study and I outlined the position in relation to the subsequent report in my reply to Question No. 124 on 27 October last. In circumstances where the detailed findings of this report are still being considered, changes in the present method of allocating the rate support grant did not arise. Local authorities were advised on 14 October last of a 2.5 per cent increase in each authority's rate support grant allocation for 1994.
