As part of discussions between Council officials and elected members at budget meetings last week, Galway City chief executive Leonard Cleary asked councillors to allocate an extra €2.4m in payroll costs on the 2024 budget.
This is understood to be partly paid for with an approved increase in Local Property Tax (LPT ) netting €6.4m over the next four years, and an extra €7m if councillors decide to increase commercial rates on businesses by 15 per cent.
The City currently employs 580 staff, and managers told councillors this week that staff were currently engaged in “background processes” to finalise a tender to fit out their new offices in Crown Square.
New staff hires will include an extra city dog warden whose responsibilities will cover new rules regulating restricted breeds, such as the XL bully.
The majority of hires are outdoor staff for road maintenance and grass cutting, including new tradesmen and apprentices to be directly employed for housing and property maintenance.
“It would be nice to have the staff on the ground that makes Galway a nice place to live,” city finance boss Helen Kilroy told councillors.
With planning permission for a new BusConnects network approved, and planning pending for an outer city ring road, City Hall plans to hire transport engineers, project managers and an architectural services team which will also oversee streetscape developments.
In order to better access European Union and OECD funding, Galway City Council will recruit two European officers, and will also hire tourism staff to better serve the city’s two million annual visitors. An expanded communications and marketing team is also envisaged.
In 2024 central government agencies allocated €4.2m to cover wage inflation amongst Galway city employees. In 2025, this figure is expected to rise to €6.6m.
Central government departments must sanction local authorities hiring of new staff, but the budget for such hires must be approved by a local authority’s elected members, according to local government rules.
