Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I understand from where Mr. Hogan is coming. From the point of view of the officials, the Government has signalled that, to a certain extent, it no longer wants what it originally introduced. Sinn Féin warned the Government about what would happen if a local property tax was introduced. In my view it is not a property tax but I shall not rehearse our arguments about what constitutes a property. Sinn Féin believe that the Government introduced a tax on the home. Introducing the tax at the bottom was always going to mean we were going to face this situation. At the same time the Government introduced the legislation in 2013 reports had been completed on how house prices would develop over the next ten years. They predicted what we are seeing at present, namely, a substantial increase. The Government no longer has the troika to blame and is thinking, "By God, if we do this to the people of Dún Laoghaire then maybe some of our ministerial colleagues might not be Ministers anymore." That is the reality that one is faced with, which makes a mockery of the legislation. The problem is that the Government froze the three-year option and now there will be a six-year bump, which people will not accept.

What type of work will the Department undertake? Will it extrapolate on data supplied by the Revenue Commissioners? Will it share information with this committee when the report has been completed? Is the report for the Minister's eyes only?