Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The alternative is to abolish the USC and the property tax, as has been put forward by Sinn Féin and others. That is the wrong thing to do and this is the wrong time to do it. It is a crucial economic juncture for this country. We must be absolutely fiscally responsible. Otherwise we risk another crash like the one that happened in 2008 and 2009. There were irresponsible economics at that time, and it was not necessarily within the four walls of Ireland Inc. but worldwide. What happened in the United States had direct implications for what happened here. We must be ready for such tailwinds, and elimination of taxation is not the way to go.

Certainly, we should try to make the tax fairer. In doing that we should examine the 0.25% of the valuation. Additional autonomy must also be given to local councils. I believe the equalisation fund is unfair even though my county benefits greatly from it. It does not link the tax in locally. Instead, it is moving from east to west and that is not fair on the ground.There is a need to look at autonomy and giving councillors the additional power they require. We are talking about the local property tax funding local government because it makes up 9% of local government income this year, and that is because the Government reconfigured the Local Government Fund and is providing almost €1 billion to Irish Water. We have to ask if the money should not be going into local government instead. If Irish Water does not get the money from the Local Government Fund, it will get it from Exchequer revenues anyway, because of the complex situation it is in by virtue of not being commercially viable.

There are very serious questions and we have to look at this in the round. Senator Horkan's motion comes at an opportune time and I hope the Government, instead of bashing it, listens to what it contains. Ordinary people, whether in Donegal, Dublin, Dingle or Clare, are talking about the issue and are concerned about it and Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil councillors will face the issue in the next local elections.

A number of options are available to the Government in reviewing this but whatever happens, fairness must be at the heart of any solution. I hope the Minister of State will accept the motion and filter it into the process. He might advise us as to whether there is an opportunity for any Member to make submissions to the review. Is it open for public consultation? I read about making submissions in the launch but I have not seen a lot since. Will there be an opportunity to have another debate in this House on the process?