Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his engagement on this matter, both inside and outside the Chamber. This Bill is one of the most important the Government will introduce and I welcome the opportunity to discuss it. As one with a keen interest in local government reform, I am particularly interested in knowing how the Bill will affect local government.

I am well aware that the Irish tend to be instinctively opposed to property tax despite the existence of the tax in pretty much every other European country. The tax has certain advantages in that it is a form of wealth tax, as Deputy Kevin Humphreys stated. This is why most left-wing parties in Europe support it. Broadly speaking, the wealthy pay the most, although I know there are some exceptions. The tax, if introduced properly, would provide an independent and stable income stream for local authorities. Transferring revenue-raising powers to local authorities would reinvigorate local democracy.

I strongly support the remarks of Deputy Brendan Ryan on homes affected by pyrite.

Since Fianna Fáil abolished rates in 1978, as one of its attempts to wreck the country, local authorities have been left without a substantial independent stream of funding. Once again, it falls to a Labour-Fine Gael Government to try to sort out the fiscal mess. Over the past decade, the absence of a local property tax contributed, in part, to the considerable property bubble. We are still dealing with the consequences of this. Fianna Fáil may attempt to attack the Government over the introduction of a property tax but I recall hearing a former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, Mr. Brian Cowen, on "The Late Late Show" admitting ruefully that Fianna Fáil should have introduced a property tax to slow down the property bubble. Had he removed section 23 much earlier, it would have made a considerable difference. It is hypocrisy for Fianna Fáil to criticise this measure given that it agreed with the EU and IMF that it should be introduced.

I will not refer to Sinn Féin's position because everybody knows the great contrast between its views on paying local charges in Northern Ireland and paying them here.

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