Offaly County Council Announces 5% Budget Increase For 2026

Tuesday, 18 November 2025 11:18

The local authority will have €102m to spend.

Offaly County Council is set to have a slight increase in its budget for 2026.

The local authority will have an overall expenditure of €102m to spend, an increase of just over 5% from the last financial year.

Each municipal district gets a funding boost of 5% unchanged from last year, with a revenue deficit of €400,000 officially cleared from the 2025 budget.

An estimated €55m will also be spent on infrastructure through the Capital Programme in 2026 alongside overall expenditure.

That's an increase of over 41% in revenue expenditure over the past five years, with Housing more than doubling in that period.

The local authority also says the Department of Housing will provide funding next year to compensate for a loss of rates income from the closure of the Shannonbridge power plant.

However, it notes it's unlikely to continue as a long term measure and that it needs to find an alternative to build up financial resilience.

Valuation rates will also go up by 5% next year with a discount of the same amount for small businesses who pay earlier.

Other increases include a boost of 33% for heritage services and 22% for the homeless service.