Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I wonder if that can be agreed by members. It is just a suggestion to keep the meeting moving along and on agenda.

I thank the Minister for being here to take questions. The committee on housing met yesterday with officials from his Department and from Revenue as well because we wanted to look at the LPT. I understand the collection of the LPT rests with his Department but the spend and allocation of it is with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is important we make that distinction clear. I am glad to hear there are talks ongoing between the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, because our local authorities do depend, albeit some more than others, on the collection of the LPT.

I view the LPT as a progressive tax. It is a tax on the wealth that is in property. I realise that not everybody sitting on a property that is worth a lot of money has a high level of income. We should not mix up the two of those things; just because your house is worth €1 million does not mean that relates to your income. It could be just the luck of the location of your house or when you bought it. Thus there are allowances there and scope for people to defer the payment of property tax in case of inability to pay or hardship. For example, I was, as were many of us, canvassing in Dublin Bay South over the past couple of weeks. Taking an expensive house owned by a couple who are both on the State pension, will the Minister explain what the situation is for that couple regarding the payment of property tax on a property I estimated to be worth somewhere north of €1 million? It would put them into, say, band 11. What could they do about paying the LPT or deferring it, given that both are on the State pension?