Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----as a result of various actions or inactions by the Government parties on issues such as this.

I am mindful of the situation that has emanated from Clare County Council in the last day or two. It now appears to be the policy of local authorities to seek a tax clearance certificate or a household charge receipt when it comes to education grants. Is that something the Minister has ordered his Department to obtain from councils throughout the country and is it the case that we can expect a request for a receipt to be provided for the household charge in respect of all Government payments to be made into the future?

The Minister knows that councillor colleagues in his party earlier this year provided a budget for their constituents on the basis of central Government funding, which in itself had been decreased, on the basis of rate income, which had decreased, and on the basis of planning and development charges, which had decreased substantially. With great difficulty they saw fit to provide a group of services and facilities on their part as a local authority to the constituents they represent. There was ineptitude on the part of the Minister and his Department in terms of the manner in which the Minister devised a very poor system to collect the household charge-----

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