Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 June 2019
278. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the amount of funding raised through the local property tax from each of the four local Dublin authorities given to the equalisation fund by his Department in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27168/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra279. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the local authorities that give 20% of their funds raised through the local property tax to the equalisation fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27169/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra280. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the amount of funding each local authority received from the equalisation fund raised through local property taxes in each of the years 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27170/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 278 to 280, inclusive, together.
Local Property Tax (LPT) was introduced to provide a stable and sustainable funding base for local authorities. Local retention of LPT began in 2015 and since then the overall principles and allocation mechanisms have broadly remained the same.
Every local authority receives a minimum amount of LPT funding, known as the baseline. Each local authority retains 80% of the LPT collected in its area, with 20% being used to support equalisation funding required for two-thirds of authorities with lower LPT bases to bring their funding levels up to the baseline.
Local authorities with surplus LPT income, i.e. income above the baseline, can retain a portion of that surplus, up to 20% of the projected LPT yield for that area, for their own use. Any remaining LPT is deemed ‘surplus’ and is used to self-fund certain Housing and Roads services. Local authorities that require equalisation funding are not required to self-fund.
Detailed information on LPT, broken down on a local authority by local authority basis, including the allocations to each local authority for the years 2015-2019, as well as the amounts contributed to and received from equalisation, can be found at the following link on my Department's website.
https://www.housing.gov.ie/search/archived/current/category/housing/sub-topic/local-property-tax/sub-type/funding-allocation/topic/chargestaxes/type/publications?query
