Galway Bay fm newsroom - Galway city councillors have voted overwhelmingly to adopt a €103 million budget for the coming year.
Only one of the 18 councillors opposed the budget which was put before the city council last evening with a number of amendments.
In remarks during the debate, Council CEO, Brendan McGrath stated that more funding would be needed in future years as the city reached new levels of population.
The initial stages of last evening's city budget meeting saw Fine Gael Councillor Frank Fahy, supported by Donal Lyons outlining a series of amendments prepared in advance by the ruling group on the council.
These included a range of supports for sports clubs, community groups and other projects around the city at a cost of €423,000. However, this kept the €103 million budget on an even keel.
Housing gets 37% of the money in the budget with recreation facilities and amenities at 17% - the two largest allocations.
30 more staff are to be employed but CEO Brendan McGrath said recruitment was difficult and slow.
The meeting heard many staff are leaving because of short term contracts and the vacancies now amount to 50.
Councillors such as Alan Cheevers and Noel Larkin argued that the east side of the city was being left behind in funding.
17 Councillors voted for the budget with Councillor Michael Crowe voting against.
