Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, in the Chamber today rather than pirouetting on the plinth or giving a press conference. Yesterday, Deputy Martin raised the issue of how property tax reductions will be applied across the country. It now seems that many councils will not be in a position to pass on reductions because of a cut in their grants under the Central Government Fund. When the Taoiseach dismissed these reports yesterday, he advised Deputy Martin not to be "proceeding on the basis of a gospel belief in what he reads in the newspapers". I understand the Irish Independentwas not the only source of this story. It seems that a document was prepared for a meeting of the famous Economic Management Council. We understand that the meeting in question did not proceed because there is no agreement between the Labour Party and Fine Gael on the issue. Fine Gael wants councils to take in as much property tax as possible. It seems that the more tax the councils take in, the greater the reduction in the central Government grant Fine Gael wants to provide for. It appears that the Labour Party does not agree with this position. The Tánaiste said this morning that he is very concerned by reports of plans to claw back the proceeds of the property tax from the delivery of local services in certain areas. He suggested that if these situations were to develop, it would be a "fundamental breach" of the political understanding that was reached at the time the property tax was agreed to. He said he would be "strongly opposed" to such a development. That is what the Tánaiste, who is on his way out the door as leader of the Labour Party, had to say this morning.

See this speech in context