Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the Thornhill Report was presented to the Cabinet. [54190/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland contains a commitment to introduce a property tax for 2012. The Programme reflects the need, in the context of the State's overall financial position, to put the funding of locally-delivered services on a sound financial footing, improve accountability and better align the cost of providing services with the demand for such services. It was considered that, in light of the complex issues involved, a local property tax would take time to introduce and accordingly to meet the requirements in the EU-IMF Programme, the Government decided to introduce a household charge in 2012 as an interim measure.

An independently-chaired Inter-Departmental Expert Group was established earlier this year to consider the structures and modalities for an equitable Local Property Tax to replace the Household Charge. The Expert Group’s report is being considered in the overall context of Budget 2013.