Funding local government

Sir, – Labour councillors on Dublin City Council are seeking plaudits for their approach to discounting local property tax, while in effect they are only tinkering at the edges with a tax in need of fundamental reform (Letters, May 28th).

The main issues for Fine Gael councillors on Dublin City Council are the equalisation fund, which means that 20 per cent of local property tax revenue from 240,000 home owners in Dublin goes to poorer counties to fund their local parks and libraries; and how, since its introduction in July 2013, all new builds are exempt from the property tax, which is fundamentally unfair. We in Fine Gael will address the 15 per cent variation only when these anomalies are comprehensively dealt with and the revenue raised in Dublin stays in Dublin. – Yours, etc,

Cllr PADDY

McCARTAN,

READ SOME MORE

(Fine Gael, Pembroke),

Ringsend,

Dublin 4.