Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

He has given it away. In one fell swoop he is speaking about passing on the Local Government Fund through the transfer of functions from his Department to the Department of Transport. The motor tax system is the best means by which he will gather in the money under that fund to fund local government. Therefore, he will have no function in the spending of the money even though he has put his neck on the line over the weekend stating that he will charge more for the benefit of the Local Government Fund by increasing by an average of 10% the amount of taxation that will come in for engines with a capacity over 1.6 litres.

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