Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I supported the last Government which introduced the property tax. It was there to broaden the tax base which had been decimated by the previous Fianna Fáil Administration when everything was based around taxes associated with building houses, and for developers. That property tax was difficult to bring in and was introduced reluctantly.

What are we to do for the future? Three parts of the tax are moveable. One is the property valuation, last undertaken in 2013 by all those who owned property. The second is the local adjustment factor, introduced in a recent Bill, where local authorities could adjust the property tax on each individual property by 15%. For instance, in 2017 Longford reduced the property tax by 3% and in 2018 increased it by 10%. In 2017, Limerick increased the rate by 10% and then by 7.5% in 2018. Most Dublin local authorities reduced it by 15% because of changes in the value of properties.

The third is the standard rate which is 0.18% while properties worth over €1 million, which might include Senator Norris, are at 0.25%.