Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not a fundamental flaw in the structure. The structure is as it is because it has a historical link. When the fund was being organised and the structure for the LPT was being put in place, the Department looked back at funding that was previously received by local authorities, through the local government fund, by means of a general purpose grant. I then considered the level of pension-related deductions retained by local authorities. The LPT allocation now takes the place of the two previous sources of funding. As I said, issues regarding baseline, current and future liability and so on will be considered in the work that will be done in the first half of next year. If the Deputy wishes to make a submission on the matter, I would be very happy to receive and consider it.

I anticipate, given the views of the Social Democrats on the need to prioritise service improvements over tax cuts, that the Deputy will support the continued role of the LPT as a way of collecting revenue to fund public services in the future. It seems the Deputy is open to it playing a larger role in the future and that is part of the debate we need to have in this regard.

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