Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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163. To ask the Minister for Finance if all of our moneys paid in property tax will go towards funding badly needed local services or will the money be used to reduce the national deficit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37187/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Local Government Fund (LGF) is a special central fund which was established in 1999 under the Local Government Act 1998. It is financed by the full proceeds of motor tax and an Exchequer contribution. The Fund provides local authorities with the finance for general discretionary funding of their day-to-day activities and for non-national roads, and funding for certain local government initiatives.

Receipts from the Local Property Tax received in 2013, which already total €191 million in the period to end-August, will remain in the Exchequer and will be used to meet the many expenditure obligations faced by the State.

However, Section 157 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, as amended, provides that, in each financial year commencing with 2014, the Minister shall pay from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof into the Local Government Fund an amount equivalent to the Local Property Tax, including any interest paid thereon, paid into the Central Fund during that year.