BETTER OUTCOMES FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Motion Text

That this House welcomes the contribution of the Town and Country Finance Issues Group in promoting the interests of town and country communities in the debate about modernising the local government finance system; believes that the current SSA system discriminates against those councils which have both urban and rural characteristics; supports the group in calling for a grant system which is simpler to understand, promotes better outcomes for local communities through a community plan and resource bidding process and helps boost the capacity of smaller councils to modernise their services and promote best value through a modernisation grant of ú250,000; and calls upon the Government to ensure that the needs of town and country communities are adequately met.