City budget meetings are either boring or fractious, but this one was a political masterclass.
The ruling ‘pact’ of Fianna Fáil, Labour, Sinn Féin and Independents had done their homework in the run-up to the annual budget meeting this week. They saved businesses from a 13 per cent commercial rates hike, and made normally abstemious Fine Gael seem like a party of high tax.
It diluted steep car parking increases demanded by City Hall suits, and increased revenue by €4.7 million by identifying almost €1.9m in potential new income streams, and €2.8m in cuts.
By the end of a relatively short meeting to approve Galway City Council’s 2026 Budget on Monday, the city’s ruling coalition rejected chief executive Leonard Cleary’s plans to raise an extra €5.8m by raising the Annual Rate on Valuation (ARV ) to 0.26. Instead, councillors passed a more modest 3 per cent increase to 0.2364, balanced by expenditure cuts.
Proposals to raise car parking charges were also watered down, despite officials calculating that Galway City Council needs an extra €19.9m in income to cover its responsibilities in 2026. Last year, the council spent €144m to run this city. It estimated €164m for 2026.
Cleary warned any rejection of the executive’s budget plan, drawn up by chief financial officer Helen Kilroy’s team, may impact the local authority’s ability to provide services and hire necessary staff, but he respected this was the prerogative of elected members.
Executive ambition
City Hall had proposed a 13 per cent increase for business owners, with a 5 per cent rebate for those owing less than €30,000, who paid on time – in effect an 8 per cent increase for 93 per cent of Galway city companies. The rebate is now cancelled, saving City Hall €835,000.
“If this budget is not passed, then significant capital projects will need to be significantly scaled back,” warned Kilroy.
Councillor Peter Keane (FF ) countered that the cost of doing business was never so expensive, with energy prices doubling, labour costs increasing and pension auto-enrolment bringing unavoidable extra costs to small businesses unable to absorb another rates rise, especially as Tailte Éireann, the State’s property assessor, ramped up its valuations for 500 businesses across Galway in 2023.
“We recognise that a zero per cent rates rise is not progressive, so this is why we propose a rise in line with inflation,” he said, adding that the he wanted to ensure local authority funding to protect jobs, businesses, Local Improvement Schemes (LIS ), festivals and events, shop front upgrades, the arts, and community grants.
“We have produced a balanced budget, and despite members of our pact having ideological differences, we have come together for our city,” he said.
Labour’s Councillor Níall McNelis is also a senior member of the Pact. He said his party’s motivation was protecting workers, and that hiking up monthly carparking charges was punitive.
“We raised taxes last year, and the city raised rents this year. We have done all the heavy lifting locally, because the campaign to increase our tier status [funding from Government] was a no-show,” he said. “Fifty-five per cent of workers drive in to work because they cannot afford to rent in the city. We must work with unions and employers, and this is why we must leave the €100 per month charge for parking as is,” he said.
Officials had requested monthly parking tickets increase to €130 per month, with hourly charges rising 50 cent to €2.50, and daily charges at the Dyke Road and Cathedral car parks almost doubling from €6.50 to €12.50. Instead, charges at council-owned car parks will now rise to €10 per day for 2026.
The Pact estimates Galway City Council will collect an extra €1.2m in derelict site charges next year, and €500,000 in rates from newly established businesses. It calculated an uplift of €150,000 in commercial services – payments to the council – and is demanding a €100,000 dividend from the Port of Galway, which councillors technically own on behalf of the city.
City services snipped
The Pact’s alternate budget included abolishing the annual €307,000 advance to Leisureland, as the Salthill landmark now breaks even thanks to management efficiencies pursued under the chairmanship of Councillor Donal Lyons (Ind ), who is not a member of the Pact.
It is cutting €350,000 from restoring castles in Galway, and €100,000 from the city museum.
The budget for retrofitting public buildings for energy efficiency is reduced by €465,000, and an expanded shop enhancement scheme is being deprived of €200,000. A cool €100,000 is cut from the local area masterplan kitty, and €47,000 is shaved off Recreation & Amenity spending.
Pact members gutted the joint county and city enterprise plan – despite being approved by committees in both City and County Hall – by slashing €264,000 in “economic strategy” and €100,000 for online branding.
Fine Gael, as the main opposition party alongside Independents and a Social Democrat, did not propose an alternative budget, but wanted to drastically amend the city manager’s plans.
It proposed a rates rise of 4 per cent, allied with a 4 per cent rebate for firms paying on time, essentially a net standstill for around three quarters of Galway businesses below a certain threshold.
The Galway Blueshirts’ resident accountant, Councillor Eddie Hoare, queried the Pact’s assumptions on how many new businesses may emerge to generate a half a mill in increased rates, and pointed out that income from derelict sites may not be collected and dispersed by the Revenue Commissioners until 2027.
As Hoare said after he meeting: “The proof will be in the pudding, this time next year.”
Councillor Alan Curran (SD ) heroically drew up an alternative budget himself, and emailed it to his 17 council colleagues. It proposed tiered tax rebates for businesses based on their tax band, funded by increased carparking charges, and slashing the council’s tourism spending. Alone, however, since Councillor Eibhlín Seoighthe left the Soc Dems, he failed to find a seconder, and his plan was not voted on.
Councillor Clodagh Higgins (FG ) failed in delaying the budget vote until next week.
The Pact’s 2026 financial plan was passed by a majority of four Fianna Fáil, three Labour and one Sinn Féin councillor, allied with Councillor Declan McDonell (Ind ) and Mayor Mike Cubbard (Ind ).
Funded by Coimisiún na Meán’s Local Democracy scheme.
