Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have one quick question for Mr. John McCarthy from the Customs House. He was before the committee a short time ago in respect of the special report and the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of the Local Government Fund and the many strands of funding that come into the Department. In his final points, he made reference to the fact that the fund is undergoing significant restructuring this year with the motor tax receipts now being remitted directly to the Exchequer rather than to the fund and that will shorten the time period for the preparation of the 2018 accounts for the fund. Can he elaborate, for my benefit and the benefit of other members, and particularly many interested others? The overall fund was €1.8 billion, which is a significant amount of money.

The motor tax element accounts for €1.1 billion of that, so this is a very significant amount of money. It generates a lot of public discourse and debate. I am interested in the impact of that change and how its extraction is going to be accounted for now. If it is not in the Local Government Fund how will it be reflected in terms of the return next year?