Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There has been no discussion in my Department with me in respect of this issue. I do not anticipate that there will be another payment of this kind.

The local authorities that are having to self-fund some of their housing programmes from local property tax are being asked to use just a portion of their overall gain from that tax. They still have additional moneys left over from the local property tax. They may choose to use those moneys for local property tax reductions rather than service improvements. Obviously, that is a democratic choice for each local authority.

I hear the accusation all the time that people's motor tax is going towards paying for Irish Water. The truth is that motor tax has been contributing towards the cost of water delivery in local authorities for many years. This was the case long before Irish Water was even thought of. Motor tax funds the majority of the local government fund, which has been used to fund water provision for many years. I think it is a bit of a cheap shot, in some ways, for people to now make a big deal of the fact that a certain amount of motor tax money is going through the local government fund into the water services that are being provided by Irish Water. It is as if people are saying they are now paying motor tax to fund Irish Water. Irish Water is providing water services in a more co-ordinated way than was the case before now. Local government funding has always been used to fund those services. They are now being funded through Irish Water.