Mr. Ruairí McGinley:

We recognise the realpolitik and this is a live issue. I am sure the Chairman has his own opinion but we have a Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government who happens to share an electoral area with my colleague who is seated on my right and, indeed, with myself. To understand the Dublin piece, the areas outside of Dublin are well represented. Councillor McCartan touched on the area of Wicklow. There are representatives all over the country, there are members for Tipperary and all of these places but Dublin has to stand up for itself and we believe that a national system is fair. We need the Minister and senior Government officials to take this aspect onboard. We, as a local authority, do not have the capacity but we are happy to make ourselves available. I am happy to provide time, I am sure my city council's finance officer is also willing to do so and we are happy to make Dr. McCloughan available. Dublin City Council has a certain level of resources by virtue of being the largest local authority and we take our finances seriously, across all the various political groupings. We work on behalf of people to deliver services, and we do not waste money and apply it where needed. There are needs and we are dealing with a major homelessness crisis, which is one of the things that is evident on our streets. Our constituents expect us to do something to tackle homelessness. Members will be glad to hear that when I went to houses and knocked on doors I heard more about the housing crisis than about the local property tax. In other words, the tax is not the first item that people are concerned about but it is one of their top five concerns. Two major concerns are housing and homelessness. In order to mobilise resources we need more joined up thinking and I would like there to be less separation between Custom House and City Hall.

In terms of the other local authorities, I mean Dún Laoghaire and the four local authorities in Dublin, I get the piece about the adjoining counties and the baseline. I live in Lucan and I am conscious that there has been major growth in Kildare and west Dublin. Things are changing and there is a dynamism so people expect us and the political system to respond.