Councillors approve budget of €433m for 2026

Councillors have approved Fingal County Council’s budget of €433 million for 2026 which will sustain and enhance the quality of services being delivered as well as increasing funding for infrastructure projects across the county. 

The 2026 budget is a 11.4% increase on last year and means the Council’s budget has more than doubled over the past 10 years from €214m in 2016. The Council is now spending €1,311 per person living in the county.

The new budget will see increases in some income streams that have not experienced rises for some years despite the Council’s expenditure more than doubling.

Commercial Rates, which amount to 40% of the overall income for 2026, will see an increase of 4% in the Annual Rateable Valuation to 0.1868.  In real terms, rates have not increased in 15 years and over 75% of ratepayers saw their bills reduced following the periodic countywide commercial property revaluation in 2020. The cumulative rate of inflation since 2020 has been around 23% during which there was no increase in rates to keep pace with inflation.

While successive budgets have facilitated a 50% increase in housing maintenance since 2020 the differential housing rents scheme has not been amended since 2013 with the minimum household rent remaining at €25 since then. The differential rents scheme is currently being reviewed with a view to implementing an updated scheme in Q2 2026, so there will be a rise in rents for Council tenants, but the new scheme will continue to maintain the list of income sources that are disregarded for rent calculation such as child benefit and fuel allowance.

 The Housing budget has increased by €24m to €159.8m and at 37% is the biggest area of expenditure as the delivery of homes, across all tenures, continues to be a priority issue for the Council. The increase includes €15.76m of additional expenditure on housing delivery through Approved Housing Bodies and provides for an additional €1.7m in spending on housing maintenance which rises to almost €17.3m. The funding for housing grants has increased by €2.5m to €9.4m while the Council’s contribution to the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive has increased by €1.25m to €5.3m.

There is an increase of €3.5m in the Operations budget which will include extra spending on road maintenance, public lighting, parks, playgrounds, recycling centres, harbours, public conveniences and burial grounds. The budget also provides for an additional €500,000 allocation to the annual programme of works with the full €3.08m works programme being brought to each Area Committee in January for approval by councillors.

An additional €600,000 has been provided towards the funding requirement for the delivery of a swimming pool in Balbriggan. The sports budget also includes sports capital grants of €975,000.

An extra €430,000 has been allocated for the development of arts in the County while there is an increase of €588,000 for events, tourism promotion and heritage properties. The Community budget includes an additional €590,000. This will provide additional funding for community grants as well as funding for the operation of the new community centre in Baldoyle.

Fingal’s contribution to the running of the Dublin Fire Service will be €27.3m, an increase of €1.5m on 2025, with the remainder of the €139m it will cost to fund the service in 2026 being covered by contributions from the other three Dublin local authorities.

 At the Council meeting in July councillors voted to reduce the rate of Local Property Tax by 5% for 2026 while in October they approved a three-year Capital programme containing over three hundred projects worth €1.43billion. 

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Tom O’Leary, said: “This record budget of €433m is the equivalent of the Council spending €1,311 for every person living in the county. Along with our €1.43billion Capital Programme, the budget is reflective of the huge amount of investment required to keep pace with Fingal’s growing population. We have to keep supplying services, building houses, and delivering infrastructure because we want to build a county that is meeting the needs of its residents.”

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “We have worked with the elected members over the last few months to develop a budget that is in line with our prudent approach to financial management while also recognising the scale of delivery we are currently engaging in across the county to make it a great place for our residents to live and work in. Budgets are necessary but never easy and I would like to thank the councillors for their support as it allows the council to continue to grow in a financially sustainable way.” 

The breakdown of the 2026 budget is as follows:

To watch the council budget meeting, click here.