Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm to the Deputy that local property tax is a discretionary income that is collected locally and the maximum autonomy will be given to councillors in order to discharge their functions in respect of the income and expenditure, which they can vary up or down as the case may be in terms of the service provision they wish to apply. I expect the new found powers of councillors will be welcomed, even though during the course of the debate on the legislation on local government reform it was said that we were not giving additional powers to local councillors and that we were just getting rid of councils. One can now see the fruits of the type of decisions that will be made in the context of financial autonomy for councillors who must make important decisions about the level of service they wish to see across the board. That will influence the level of property tax they wish to apply in their administrative area.

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