Dr. Pat McCloughan:

The report outlines the points the Senator makes. It is a fact that there is a very high rate of compliance with the council tax. The Senator may have seen in the report that the IMF commented recently that the fiscal situation in this country is quite centralised and that local authorities had a very low share of fiscal activity. Deputy Ó Broin is correct that the tax was introduced at a time of fiscal emergency. During that time, a greater onus was placed on local authorities to work on economic development, to encourage foreign direct investment and to help Irish-owned companies. Their fiscal contribution has not increased as a result, however. I take the Senator's well-made point, which reflects what we say in the report. It is worth remarking that Dublin is special in that it is the capital city and its residents have a legitimate expectation. It is also the case that tens of thousands of commuters come into the capital every day and footpaths and local services have to work for them too. Dublin is also the largest tourism centre in the country and, by a long shot, the largest centre of employment. The jobs-population ratio is over 50%. Dublin does a great deal of the heavy lifting economically. That applies across the local authority sector and the Senator's points in that regard were well made.