€1.4m funding ‘sweetener’ for merger of authorities

The proposed amalgamation of Galway County and City Councils is much closer than originally thought – after a €1.4 million ‘sweetener’ has been accepted by members as part of the county’s passing of their annual budget.

Councillors have been told in no uncertain terms that the allocation is contingent on a decision of the Oireachtas to merge the two administrations.

The merger is part of the 2018 Local Government Bill which was passed last week and refers to the amalgamation of the two councils in Galway. The full merger is envisaged to take place in 2021 – two years after next May’s local elections.

At the County Council’s budget meeting, several members said that they would accept the €1.4 million next year but with ‘no strings attached’.

While the merger is being viewed as ‘a done deal’, most local councillors are against such a move.

During a discussion on the €1.4 million allocation, councillors were presented with a document stating it was money that would meet ‘one-off costs relating to the merger’.

Fianna Fáil, through Cllr Mary Hoade, proposed that a letter be sent to the Department to address the underfunding to the County Council and that that €1.4 million not be tied to any merger.

But several independent councillors accused Fianna Fáil of being naïve, saying the funding came with a prerequisite that it be used for the amalgamation process and would not simply go into the Council’s coffers.

The day before the meeting, a deputation of seven Fianna Fáil councillors met with party Oireachtas members in Dublin asking them to resist the merger of the two councils.

This was amid fears that the amalgamation of the two councils forms part of the Confidence and Supply arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

Cllr James Charity (Ind) said that this funding was not “an offer” to the County Council and it was being allocated in advance of a merger of the two councils.

The councillor, who is supportive of the amalgamation, said that certainty was needed with regard to this particular line of funding. “We should not be fooling ourselves that this money can be used to simply balance our budget,” Cllr Charity warned.

Various councillors expressed the view that this €1.4 million was due to the County Council being cash-strapped, but even = senior officials could not clarify if it could be spent on day-to-day requirements.

Other independent councillors including Tom Welby, Timmy Broderick and Shaun Cunniffe kept pressing the officials in relation to this particular allocation.

They were of the view that if the amalgamation did not happen, then this funding would be lost and they would be in a worse position than ever.

Fine Gael’s Pete Roche said that there were 57 local elected representatives between the city and county and the vast majority were opposed to the merger.

However, he added that there were eight TDs between the Galway East and Galway West and the majority of these were in favour.

“They are obviously not listening to us and do not care about the concerns we have regarding this merger. It is my own view that it will happen in any event by pure stealth,” Cllr Roche added.