Clare One Of Lowest Funded Councils

Clare is receiving one of the lowest levels of government funding of any county in Ireland.

The county’s allocation under the local government is used to fund services offered by the Council, but new figures show the county lagging behind the majority of other areas.

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Clare appears to be punching well below its weight when it comes to the receipt of government funding, according to figures released to the Dáil by Minister Simon Coveney.

They reveal that 8.7 million euro was granted to Clare County Council last year – only Carlow, Galway City and Offaly received smaller amounts.

A Clare FM analysis of the statistics shows that on a head of population basis, Clare fares even worse, and is ahead of only Cork City.

6.4 million euro of this came from the local property tax fund, paid by people here.

Last year, that was discounted by 15% following a decision by County Councillors, a situation which no longer applies from 2017.

That should see Clare get around 1.5 million more next year, but even if that were added to the amount for last year then Clare would still trail the likes of Cavan, Sligo, Roscommon and many more.

Clare County Council says that in 2014 it received one of the lowest allocations from the predecessor of the Local Property Tax, and that this is the reference base for current allocations.

Last year, a Council delegation met with Minister Coveney to outline the shortfall in funding here, and the impact on services.

It remains to be seen whether there will be any improvement on foot of these talks.