Call for Government departments to pay rates

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS occupying valuable central Dublin sites should pay the equivalent of commercial rates to the city council, a new report says.

The Funding the Dublin City Region report, to be launched by Lord Mayor Eibhlin Byrne in City Hall today, recommends new ways to raise revenue for the capital. It was carried out by the council's Finance Strategic Policy Committee, chaired by Cllr Michael Donnelly.

"If the Government departments weren't there, you'd have commercial units there and they'd pay commercial rates, so we are seeking the equivalent from central government," he said.

"That's one real test of central government's commitment to giving more power to local government. Power is never very far removed from the money."

The report says the Dublin city region should get 60 per cent of available exchequer funding. It found the capital was underfunded when compared to other local authority areas.

"Given Dublin's economic importance and its contributions to national output, at least 60 per cent of the public capital programme should be allocated to the city region," the report says.

The study recommends a system of funding through local taxation, "which, at the authority's discretion, could raise modest amounts in the context of local government expenditure as a whole, which could be applied to the social, cultural, living and leisure environment".

The report says there should be a system of tax-sharing between central and local government, "as the current system of financing of local government makes no recognition of Dublin city's contribution to the economic development of the region or the country in general".

It says the Dublin city region should become an "overarching" priority of the National Development Plan. It found "compelling evidence" that the National Spatial Strategy should be revised to attach a much higher priority to the needs of the capital, "as a main driver of the national economy".

Mr Donnelly said: "Dublin is by far Ireland's 'mastercard', because of what we've achieved and the potential to attract investment that wouldn't otherwise be achieved for the benefit of the whole country."

The report says local government funding requires a review so funding allocated to Dublin reflects the level of economic, social and cultural activity supported there.

"An underfunded city region will undermine the ability of the national economy to compete, while a stronger functioning Dublin will support a stronger functioning State," it says, adding that Dublin contains "competitiveness blackspots" and that the problems facing minority groups in the city are "enormous".

On climate-change issues, it states that "very significant capital expenditure" will be required by all Dublin local authorities from 2012 to fund projects that will reduce the area's carbon footprint.