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

I am referring to a chart on the local property tax take of local authorities. Deputy Catherine Murphy and I have consistently made the point on the contribution towards other housing aspects. My county is mentioned with regard to the failure of the mortgage to rent scheme. Traveller accommodation is also mentioned. There is a plethora of issues that could be examined.

At our meeting with the Secretary General, I raised points in respect of the local property tax take. The Taoiseach has made a particular pledge that all property tax will be retained locally so that local authorities running a surplus will no longer have to contribute to the equalisation fund. When I asked the Secretary General about this he had no idea how it would be achieved.

In that respect, we are talking about a serious amount of money. It is a serious matter for the holder of the most prominent office in the country to say that and it is an issue that has not been addressed. Political promises have since been made in local election manifestos that all councils under Fine Gael will cut local property tax. When we examine the documents that have been brought forward, we see the strain certain Departments and councils are operating under and their failure to achieve what they should be achieving. I am telling members of the committee that the documents raise even more questions. One could have a fresh debate on them. I look forward to using them in the compilation of the committee's report.