Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 October 2021
437. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the level of funding that was allocated to each local authority in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021; the level of funding that was allocated specifically to each local authority housing section in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50427/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe funding system that applies to local authorities is a complex one, as authorities derive their income from a variety of local sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and funding from Central Government.
Central Government funding of local authorities similarly presents a complex picture, with transfers, both current and capital, coming from a wide range of Departments and Offices, not solely from my Department, for a variety of purposes. Some streams of funding are delivered directly from funding departments to local authorities, while others are routed through departmental agencies.
Most of the funding sourced from Central Government and provided to local authorities must be used for specified services. These can be grouped into 5 broad programme categories: recreational, education, environment, housing and transport.
In 2020, total transfers of funding from all central government sources to local authorities totalled €6.08 billion. Additional detail on Central Government funding of local authorities is provided in the Comptroller and Auditor General's Annual Report, accessible at the following link:
https://www.audit.gov.ie/en/find-report/publications/2021/chapter-3-central-government-funding-of-local-authorities.pdf.
Across all schemes and funding sources, my Department provided €2.61bn, €3.02bn, €3.99bn, and €1.52bn to local authorities in the years 2018 - June 2021. The breakdown of total funding provided by my Department is in the associated table. Details of the total housing expenditure from my Department is also in an associated table. With regard to the housing figures it is important to note the following;
- The figures represent expenditure across the various housing programmes.
- The figures represent exchequer expenditure and LPT self-funding expenditure across the housing programmes, capital and current.
- The figures for Limerick City & County Council includes payments to the local authority in its role as the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Shared Services Centre (SSC). This SSC manages all HAP related rental transactions for the tenant, local authority and landlord. Accordingly, my Department does not recoup individual local authorities in respect of HAP rental payments in their administrative areas but, rather, recoups all landlord costs via the HAP SSC
