Mr. John McCarthy:

The answer to that is primarily tied up in the outcome of the review exercise that the Minister for Finance is undertaking. As the Deputy pointed out, a range of issues arise concerning what will happen to exemptions from LPT and the political commitment to 100% local retention. All of those elements are being fed into the review group exercise that the Minister for Finance is leading. Until such time as it is completed, there is probably not much more that I can say. As I told this committee when the issue arose previously, if one local authority were to gain in a situation in which the pot of money did not change, then other local authorities would inevitably have to lose. The question of additionality - no one losing and other things still being achieved - would have to be considered. It is being examined by the Minister's group.