Fórsa has raised growing concerns about the perilous finances of Ireland’s local authorities at a recent meeting with local government minister Darragh O’Brien, and slammed the Government’s decision to continue to waive commercial rates.

Councils are reeling at the loss of income arising from the Covid-19 emergency, which has also placed substantial extra demands on local authorities.

The union met the minister and departmental officials about Irish Water in July, and took the opportunity to raise concerns about the local authority funding.

The head of Fórsa’s local government and municipal employees’ divisions, Peter Nolan, heavily criticised the decision to waive business rates, which are a vital source of revenue for local authorities. This is particularly true in Dublin, where the four local councils receive less central government funding than other councils.

This means they are dependent on income generated from rates to carry out public works and deliver local services.

Peter said local authority staff had stepped up during the pandemic to made sure local authorities remained open for business and public services were provided.

“How the next government deals with financing local authorities will determine services into next year. The necessary financial supports must be put in place to ensure the provision of public services in the future,” he said.

Minister O’Brien said his department had received a commitment that €600 million would be made available to local authorities from the exchequer.

He said this would underpin the future delivery of services, and also underlined the government’s support for the work carried out by local authorities.

Details of the supports for local authorities are currently being developed by the department.