Mr. Frank McDonald:

I never agreed with the idea of abolishing domestic rates. I believe that was a fatally flawed decision which had the effect, from 1978 onwards, of undermining what little authority the local authorities had. That is still the case today. An alternative method of funding from the road tax was unsatisfactory. We now have the local property tax but it is different in that it is collected by the Revenue Commissioners rather than by local authorities. I have always believed in the old saying, "There can be no taxation without representation" and the reverse of that is also true - there can be no representation without taxation. Local authorities should have tax powers. They do not have that. Revenue is collecting the money from the local property tax, so the direct relationship which should exist between the citizen and his or her local authority is undermined by Revenue's involvement.