Figures show Meath County Council’s income hit €250m last year with better rate collection record than Revenue

Meath County Council's income last year was €250 million with a net surplus of €158,000, last week’s monthly meeting heard.

The council now has a cumulative surplus of €723 million and fixed assets of €3.3 billion.

It is one of the top performing councils in the country with a 98 per cent collection rate on commercial rates, better than the Revenue Commissioners.

Rates accounted for 23 per cent of the council’s income in 2025 and were the “lifeline of the local authority”, according to Head of Finance, Fiona Lawless who said this went to show the amount of work carried out by the staff in the rates department of the council.

Delivering her last summary of the council’s accounts as she approaches retirement, Ms Lawless spoke of the council's financial journey over the last few years, pointing out that 2021 was the first year the council had recorded a surplus. Ms Lawless said there had been hard decisions made and hard work done by the council.

"What a journey we have had over the last few years. We are now in 2025 with a surplus of €723 million. When I started here in 2002 the budget for Meath County Council was only €68 million. It’s now nearly a quarter of a billion. That first year we made a loss which represented almost four per cent of our revenue,” she recalled.

Last year, the council's income consisted of grants and subsidies €99m, rates €57m, goods and services €58m and other finances €15.9m.

The council's expenditure included payroll, €30m, operational costs, €136m, administration €7.5m, and miscellaneous services €19m.

The meeting heard that over the last number of years Meath County Council had given out more loans than any other local authority in the country.

There many tributes paid to Ms Lawless, who was congratulated along with her finance team by Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe.

"The importance of the budgetary process should not be underestimated. We are in a strong position financially but that didn’t happen by accident.

"There were dark days, but thanks to the leadership of Fiona and former CEO Jackie Maguire, we are now in this position. It took courage and bravery - something Fiona oozes every day. Her reputation across the sector is second to none. We are so lucky to have her."

Mr Kehoe said the economic contribution of the council to the county was phenomenal. "We should not underestimate the €70 million in payroll and €130 million that went into the local economy from the council."

Cllr Gerry O’Connor thanked Ms Lawless and the finance team for “a very impressive set of accounts”.

Cllr Brian Fitzgerald complimented Ms Lawless and her staff for bringing the council’s finances into the position they were in today. “Old fellows like me can remember the time when councillors would be in the chamber at 2am fighting over how much they were going to put on the rates and refuse charges. It was always going to be in the red no matter what we did”.

Cllr Nick Killian said what had happened with the finances took leadership and courage.

Cllr Eugene Cassidy recalled that it was not that long ago the council was €12m in debt. “It was a question of trying to keep the ship afloat. Hard decisions had to be made at the time and we are reaping the awards of it now.”

Cllr Joe Fox said that Ms Lawless had done a “fantastic job over the last 25 years, while Cllr Ronan Moore said he hoped people would realise how important it was, not only to have a balanced budget, but a prudent one.

- Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme