Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have this opportunity to contribute on this important matter. I thank Fianna Fáil for highlighting the anomaly that arises in estates where residents to have to pay twice to live in whatever house or apartment they are in.

The property tax is a contentious matter in some areas, especially in rural areas where homeowners do not get much in return for paying it, not even a water service. People do not have a public water supply in many parts of the county I represent and have to provide their own supply. We all know that the property tax was to be reviewed in recent years but that has been deferred by the Government because it was afraid it would get roasted in the local elections and in the next general election. It is delaying this review until after those elections.

We have an anomaly in Kerry in that all along the Kerry border with Cork, the people in Kerry pay way more in property tax than the people in Cork for property of the same value, however that has come to pass. We have highlighted that often enough in the chambers in Kerry County Council but that is still the way it is.

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