Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I was a councillor on Kilkenny County Council for ten years. Kilkenny County Council increased its property tax by 15%. The benefits that came to every single community in the county were unbelievable. Footpaths were upgraded and additional lighting was put in. There was investment in playgrounds and remedial grants, which went from €34,000 to €200,000. Each council had a discretionary fund which it could allocate to its communities. That 15% allocation increase to local property tax made a difference to the people I represent in every single community in my constituency and in County Kilkenny. It is important that this is noted.

While Sinn Féin has opposed every single property tax amendment that was brought forward in Kilkenny County Council and actually proposed to reduce the property tax by 15%, it never once-----

See this speech in context