Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I know we are over time but I ask the Minister to bear with me as I have a couple of questions I want to ask him about the LPT. One of them relates to the committee's work on LPT. There is widespread discussion about the yield and a constant discussion about property prices increasing. What work has been done in terms of the yield and in looking at the scenarios relating to a property price crash and the protection of the yield from the LPT? In looking at a funding model for local government, how would we deal with that if there were a recurrence of what happened between 2008 and 2010? I do not know an analysis has been done in this regard but it would certainly be important in the context of the committee's work.

The Minister made reference to a willingness to look at the situation relating to managed estates and management fees. He also made a comment on the general principle of preserving the LPT and not providing exemptions, derogations or offsets. I speak on the basis of my experience as a public representative in Dublin.

Many people in Dublin pay a lot of property tax. There is a notion that the snow can be cleared or the footpaths repaired only once and that various things are done by a council at one particular point. Many people who live in non-managed estate areas also pay a lot of property tax. What is the Minister's thinking on the idea that most property tax, if it is kept and spent locally, will be spent for the greater good of the community? If somebody living in an apartment worth €700,000 is paying X amount in property tax and a management fee, he or she is getting the benefit of the management fee through the preservation of the immediate vicinity. Somebody living in a house worth €700,000 in a large housing estate will pay a large amount in property tax but might also be paying fees to a residents' association or whatever. Where is the equity in the proposal that the latter should pay more and why would the Minister consider it?