Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. I have a number of questions. In 2021, Cork City Council will pay €985,000 in LPT for social housing that it council owns. It paid €600,000 last year. All local authorities are paying LPT on social housing. The money that is being collected from people who pay LPT is being taken out of local properties. This means that there is a shortage of money that should be spent on services - parks, playgrounds, public lighting, traffic cameras and so on - by local authorities. Will this be addressed in the final version of the Bill? I do not believe it is right that local authorities are being stiffed of this funding? Will it be addressed in the Bill?

What negative effect will revaluations have? Will they affect Cork City Council or any other local authorities that are now paying extra LPT? I appreciate the position regarding the minimum bands. Even though the bands are widening, the amount will stay the same. Surely that will have an effect on local authorities, which will be obliged to pay additional money.

How many local authorities will lose funding as a result of every local authority keeping 100%? What budget stream will be put in place to ensure that those local authorities will be able to pay for and supply the services they need to?