Area councillors can choose to hoard the windfall from the increased Local Property Tax over the next five years to attract larger grants for projects of scale.

Head of Finance in Galway County Council Katie O’Connor said there was no onus on councillors to spend the €205,000 extra the Loughrea Municipal District will get per year.

Galway County Chief Executive Liam Conneely last month agreed to allocate an annual €800,000 to be divided between each area that councillors can allocate themselves after all but six representatives voted to hike the LPT by the maximum 15% every year until 2029.

Ms O’Connor explained that they can hold over this new fund every year to accumulate a pot of over €1m and then seek State or EU grants.

“You should be looking to spend that on capital projects. If you don’t spend it, it will go into the capital account – it would amount to €615,000 over three years – and you should be looking to leverage that amount for State funding. It’s not a use it or lose it in your first year.

“I would think years four and five will be very important to see something tangible coming from it.”

Cllr Shane Curley (FF) asked if could be used to invest in a new swimming pool for Loughrea.

Ms O’Connor declined to speculate what it could be used for, to which Loughrea Cathaoirleach Martina Kinane state that how the money would be spent would be decided by area councillors.

Cllr Declan Kelly (Independent Ireland) later proposed a motion, seconded by Cllr Geraldine Donohue (Ind), calling on the Council to commit to making a publicly owned swimming pool an urgent priority, with construction to begin in 2025.

Cllr Jimmy McClearn (FG) said the need for a municipal pool had been clear for 25 years but was now more critical than ever.

“If the lands north of the N65 are not suitable, we should be putting pressure on Galway County Councils to find lands that are. We have to keep it on the agenda, we have to identify a site that is suitable – this Council term has to get this over the line.”

The motion was unanimously agreed.

The 2025 draft budget for the Loughrea Municipal District was also unanimously agreed, with €12m allocated for this part of the county, an increase of nearly €1m on this year.

Out of that, €90,000 has been allocated for estate maintenance – double the 2024 spend – and €248,000 more for maintenance on local roads with the spending just under €2m. There was also a hike in the budget for surface dressing on local roads – up €235,000 to over €880,000 – and €228,000 extra for regional roads surface restoration, bringing that up to €1.15m.

The other area earmarked for much greater spending is economic development and promotion, jumping €216,000 to €223,000.

Pictured: Cllr Shane Curley…swimming pool suggestion.