Niall Mc Nelis has repeated his calls for Galway City to be reclassified as a large local authority because the current designation is “strangling the budget of City and does not help with the provision of services.”
Local authorities are classified in a recent report by National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC ) on Internal Audit as ‘Large, Medium & Small’.
Galway County is classified as a large local authority with Galway City Council categorised as a small local authority. McNelis feels that this potentially impacts on the allocation of funding e.g. various grants and also the levels of staff.
“In the west of Ireland, Galway City Council is thought of by Government and other state agencies in similar terms as Sligo, Roscommon or Leitrim. How can Galway City achieve its status and the vision for its future growth as identified in the Government’s Project Ireland 2040, the National Planning Framework (NPF ) and also the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES )?
“Galway City is classified as one of the regional growth cities along with Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Limerick in the NPF. The city is expected to grow its population by 50% over the next 20 years - grow by twice as much in 20 years by which it has grown in the previous 50 years,” he said.
“How can we achieve this ambition when we are thought of by Government as a small local authority and resourced accordingly. In the above categorisation by size of LAS’s Dublin and Limerick are classified as large LAs. Waterford and Cork City are classified as medium sized local authorities. This might suggests a downgrading of Galway City. This needs to change!
The national ambition for Galway City needs the resources to be given to Galway City Council to enable it to achieve its ambition. Furthermore, the state’s thinking about and classification of Galway City Council may also reflect itself in areas such as education, housing, health care, sport and cultural infrastructure etc.
“Being thought of as a small LA also has a follow through negative impact on the services we can provide locally to our citizens and our ratepayers. Annually, Galway County Council has complained extensively to Government about how poorly it has been resourced and rewarded accordingly.
“Clearly, Government will only respond to you if you are considered large. On the other hand, the city is almost penalised by being regarded as a net recipient of local property tax and having its funding allocations negatively impacted as a consequence.
“The city boundary must be extended as a priority. At the moment the planning of key city suburbs such as Bearna or Oranmore are outside the control of Galway City. They are an integral element of the city’s growth and development.
“For too long they have been financially neglected by Galway Co Co. It is an issue if I am re-elected that I will champion and pursue in all possible ways as key priority,” he concluded.
