Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I beg your indulgence, Acting Chairman. We saw the demise of development contributions which were a major source of income for local authorities during the boom years. Cork County Council spent wisely on building up social infrastructure but the funding has practically disappeared. I agree that one can no longer rely on rate payers – businesspeople – to fund local government. That is why I look forward to Fianna Fáil members of local authorities supporting and striking the new rate on the property tax when the time comes in terms of the deviation that is allowable in the legislation to support the type of activity to which Deputy Troy refers.

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