Galway County Council has been underfunded for years, and the figures are stark. Galway County Council receives €1,051 per person, while the average across the State is €1,534. If Galway County Council was receiving that State average, its annual budget would increase from €203 million to €296 million, an increase of almost 50%. It is undeniable that we are not receiving our fair share in County Galway. This has an enormous impact on all of the services which are provided by the council, whether roads, environment, recreation, community facilities and especially housing, where we have serious issues in maintenance, homeless services, voids and much more. This underfunding means that key projects like Dunguaire Castle and the Craughwell wastewater upgrade are being left in limbo because the council cannot provide for them from its own resources. One of the most frustrating aspects of this is that we have never received any good reason or explanation from Government as to why Galway does not receive its fair share. I have asked parliamentary questions repeatedly, but the Department still will not disclose the formula as to how it is calculating the funding for local authorities and why Galway is losing out. That is not good enough. It is a serious lack of transparency. Why, Minister, does Galway lag so far behind other counties, and when will the Government rectify this unfairness?

Sentiment score: -0.12

The Minister of State's response does not address the key questions as to why Galway County Council is losing out and what specific formula is being used to calculate the funding to local authorities. It is important to say that Galway County Council has done everything that has been asked of it. It increased the local property tax - I did not support that, but it did it - on the specific promise that increased funding would be coming from central government in response to that. It also increased the rates, but the increased funding has not come. The Department threw the council a couple of million here and there previously, but we need a long-term, sustainable solution. We have lost out on an awful lot of funding over the years. The council executive has come to the Government with a specific ask for an uplift of €15 million. I call on the Minister of State and the Government as a whole to ensure that happens.

Sentiment score: 0.15