Council to spend €162m as 2022 budget agreed

Meath County Council adopted a 2022 budget of €162 million on Monday, up from last year’s figure of €154 million.

Council chief executive Jackie Maguire said that it is the largest budget presented to members in the last number of years and described it as a "very progressive budget".

She said there would be increased expenditure in roads, housing, all community areas, and environmental issues with a particular focus on climate change.

The CEO said it was possible to do all this without an increase in rates of Local Property Tax. This was due to the success of the county’s economic development strategy, which had seen a substantial amount of new businesses setting up in the county, adding to the rates base. There was also an increase in central government allocations.

Chief financial officer Fiona Lawless said that the budget had increased by 38 per cent since the current council was elected in 2019.

Among the big ticket items she highlighted was an increase in the housing budget of €500,000 for planned maintenance.

The homeless service has also increased by €588,883 to €3,720,552. However, she pointed out that in 2014, €325,000 was spent on homeless services, which had risen to €1.5 million by 2019. Ninety per cent of this is recoupable from central government.