Bernard Allen
Ceist:156 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has satisfied himself that local authority allocations for 2002 are sufficient to allow them to fulfil their function and obligations. [17511/02]
Written Answers. - Local Authority Funding.
I assume that the question refers to general purpose allocations for local authorities made under the Local Government Fund. A total of €593 million was allocated from the fund for this purpose in 2002. This represents an increase of almost 10% over the baseline allocation for 2001 and is some 74% higher than the corresponding allocation for 1997.
I am confident that this level of resources, together with other grants and subsidies from my Department, and income raised from local sources, is appropriate to meet the reasonable cost of local authority services.