Mr. Tommy Moylan:

On section 29, on varying the rates, this should be a power at municipal level. If a specific project was in place, the municipal authority members should be allowed to come to an agreement on a small variation of the rate which could return to the county rate if it was not used properly. This was provided for in Putting People First, but it was not included in the legislation. For example, Nenagh town businesses were given an option of having a 3% reduction in rates or a parking incentive in the town centre, with free parking at weekends. The parking incentive was chosen with the agreement of local traders as we pointed out they would get more value out of it than a reduction in their rates. The other two town councils in north Tipperary saw a reduction in rates. Our incentive provided a boost for local traders in Nenagh at the weekend. That is local democracy and power working at local level. Next year we will not have that option. All municipal areas, whether it be Nenagh, Templemore or Thurles, will not have that choice next year as the matter will be decided at county level.

The Bill provides for local property taxes to be brought back to county level. This will have an awful effect on the local government fund which will be reduced drastically. The kernel of the issue is that this tax is to be collected centrally at county level and redistributed back to district level by way of a general municipal allocation. As Mr. Callaghan stated in his opening statement, without the guidelines and regulations being published, we do not know how this will be redistributed back to municipal authorities. This will affect our credibility as public representatives. If someone in Nenagh asks me what he or she gets for his or her €500 in local property tax, he or she will not want to hear me tell her or her that the money paid for a footpath in Clonmel, with all due respect to my colleagues in south Tipperary. He or she will want to hear how much was spent in his or her local district. The priority must be the direct correlation between municipal allocations and what was raised by the local property tax. That is the priority in having full financial autonomy.