Commercial rates are one of the four main ways in which local government is funded, the others being income on goods and services, grants and subsidies and the local government fund. The whole issue of commercial rates takes on increasing importance following the recent publication of the pre-budget Estimates in which the allocation to the fund is €420 million. This represents a marginal increase in the fund for 2003 and in real terms, when inflation is taken into account, it could well be a reduction. Meanwhile, I understand that the local authority pay bill has increased by well in excess of 12% in 2002 alone and when benchmarking is taken into consideration, it is certain that the increase in the bill for 2003 will also be significant. I am sure the Minister of State is also aware that for 2003, in contrast to 2002, there are no specific allocations to local authorities to finance the salaries of elected members.