Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2017
532. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if an assistant secretary in his Department gave a commitment later in the first quarter of 2015 when he or she met with the chief executive and management team of the council that he or she would find a way of getting the allocation back to Sligo once the financial plan for the council had been approved (details supplied). [53391/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra533. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if a meeting with the chief executive of the council on 7 September 2016 when the issue of repayment was again raised, an assistant secretary of his Department referred to his or her recollection of the matter being that on approval of the financial plan and adherence by the council to the terms of the plan over a two-year or three-year period, the money would be refunded. [53392/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra534. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the change to the criteria was never communicated to Sligo County Council in view of the fact it is now two years since the signing of the plan and the agreed adjusted targets have been achieved; and if the €750,000 will be remitted to Sligo County Council immediately. [53393/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra548. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if the Secretary General and assistant secretary of his Department attended a meeting with a person (details supplied); if Secretary General or the assistant secretary of his department gave a commitment at the meeting to remit the previously withdrawn €750,000 local government fund allocation to Sligo County Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53175/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 532 to 534, inclusive, and 548 together.
It is a matter for each local authority, including Sligo County Council, to determine its own spending priorities in the context of the annual budgetary process having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources. The elected members of a local authority have direct responsibility in law for all reserved functions of the authority, which include adopting the annual budget, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority.
During 2014, my Department engaged with Sligo County Council on the need to address the unsustainable revenue deficit in that local authority. In this regard, an engagement began between my Department and Sligo County Council in relation to putting in place a financial plan to improve the finances of the Council. As part of this process, my Department agreed to the payment of €1m to Sligo County Council, subject to the preparation of a financial plan, which charted a path to long-term financial sustainability, being agreed between my Department and the Council prior to the end of 2014. Following a meeting with my Department on 27 March 2014, wherein a draft financial plan was submitted, it was decided to provide Sligo County Council with €250,000 of this €1m. In the absence of a detailed plan being finally agreed before the end of 2014 no further payment was made to Sligo in respect of 2014. This withdrawal of the remaining €750,000 was formally confirmed to Sligo County Council by the then Minister in a meeting with officials and elected members of Sligo County Council on 3rd February 2015. No commitment to remit this €750,000 was subsequently given either at the meeting of 7 September 2016 or in the intervening period or at any time since.
A similar amount of €1m was included in the 2015 Local Property Tax allocation to Sligo County Council. Payment of this again remained conditional on a plan being agreed and discussions with the Council, in this context, continued. A financial plan was subsequently agreed and an additional €1m was paid in December 2015.
On 7 July 2016, eight months after the plan was agreed, Sligo County Council advised my Department that its surplus target for 2016 would not be met, and that the surplus would fall short of the €2.3 million target agreed the previous November by €1.092 million. My Department accommodated this change, with the target for 2016 revised down from €2.3m to €1.598m. Sligo County Council confirmed, in its letter of 13 October 2016, that it had the ability to meet the revised target for 2016 but would not be able to meet the target of €3.41 million planned for 2017. On 4 November 2016 it confirmed that it was budgeting for a surplus for 2017 of €1.6m. On 20 December 2016 it further reduced the surplus envisaged for future years to a maximum of €1.6m per annum, and requested that timescales be reviewed. In its letter of 12 April 2017 it advised that the maximum annual sustainable surplus was €600k, and outlined three options for adjustments to timescales. My Department accepted a timescale to 2027 which would see surpluses of €600k generated each year between 2018 and 2027, notwithstanding the fact that this represents a considerable reduction on the original targets proposed of €3.11 million for 2018 and €2.81 million for 2019.
An additional €1m was paid by my Department in both December 2016 and December 2017 when revised targets were met. My Department has provided for further payment of €200k per annum additional funding to Sligo County Council each year over a 10 year period from 2018 subject to Ministerial approval and any possible changes in Government policy over the intervening period. Overall, this amounts to a total of €5.25m additional funding to Sligo County Council.
