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Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Councils will be able to set their own rate of property tax

Under the plans to reform local government unveiled today, different councils will be able to set different rates.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER PHIL Hogan has said that local authorities will be able to set their own rates for property tax in the future.

The move will mean different councils will be able to charge different rates, depending on the services they provide and the amount of money they need to collect.

Speaking at the launch of the Government’s plan to overhaul local government, Phil Hogan said that local authority services will become more and more reliant on income which will be raised from the property tax as  the government aims to reduce the amount of money councils receive from the Exchequer. Currently four out of every ten euro spent by local authorities comes from the central Exchequer.

Property tax is due to be introduced on 1 July next year with the exact details of the rate due to be confirmed on Budget Day on 5 December.

“If [local authorities] are raising the money locally for a particular service provision they will have a say in relation to how they spend it,” said Hogan.

“Therefore each local authority can have a different level of property tax in due course”.

Phil Hogan said that the timing of when councils will be able to set their own rates will be a matter for the government.

The Minister also said that the planned changes will be the biggest overhaul of local government since the Victorian era. He said:

What we had wasn’t a bad system of local government. It as a good system but just built for a very different time. If you think about it, what other aspect of the infrastructure affecting the lives of every citizen in the State has been left unchanged and unchallenged since the nineteenth century?

He said that the Fianna Fáil-led government of 1977 had made a “disastrous” decision to cut the link between local tax and local service for electoral gain, which had led to much of the malaise that exists in the local government system today.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that the current system is undemocratic and not sufficiently responsive. “Local Government does too little governing,” he said. “The limited role that councils have in issues like job creation of community development undermines its credibility with the public”.

Under the plans released today, the number of councils will be cut from 114 to 31 with the number of councillors reduced by almost half.

Existing town councils will be abolished and replaced by a municipal governing body. The government says that the plans will save the State €420 million over four years.

Read: ‘Fix Your Street’ website to be rolled out nationally by end of year >

Read: Significant reforms will see planning powers of councillors curtailed >

Read: Number of local authorities to be slashed from 114 to 31 >

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82 Comments
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    Mute Gerry Ryan
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:13 PM

    Congrats to all and we’ll done to the crews. To all the scrotes out there who stone ambulances, think of this the next time you’re tempted. Unfortunately most of you can’t read, so this will fall on stupid ears.

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    Mute Stephen Ring
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:16 PM

    I’d imagine fighting fires would be less terrifying than the birthing process tbh. Fair play to them.

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    Mute Seamus O' Tiomain
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:15 PM

    Fair play to them, they look genuinely proud in their pictures, great job satisfaction for them and a credit to DFB

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    Mute lunadoran
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:20 PM

    Even better than the realtin……

    162
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    Mute Philip Cavanagh
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    Sep 16th 2015, 5:56 PM

    Excellent!!

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    Mute Robert Allen
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:15 PM

    Well done lads

    139
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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:58 PM

    Well done lads but I’m waiting on the Waterford whispers exclusive “woman gives birth to own child”

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    Mute Magnus
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:13 PM

    Do all firefighters routinely get training in such matters or do they have perhaps, one or two key personnel on the team trained to deal with something like this?

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    Mute Relevent?
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:33 PM

    All DFB are qualified paramedics or advanced paramedics, great if you need to avail of them in Dublin

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    Mute Sharon Byrne
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    Sep 16th 2015, 12:35 PM

    As far as I know firefighters man the ambulances so would have paramedic training(some of them anyway). presumably it was the ambulance and therefore the paramedics/firefighters who were sent to these cases

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    Mute Al
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    Sep 16th 2015, 1:52 PM

    All DFB firefighters are trained to paramedic level, some are advanced paramedics. They rotate between fire and ambulance duties

    54
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    Mute HRH The Brummie
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    Sep 16th 2015, 4:20 PM

    so just doing their job. HSE paramedics do this often enough without the publicity. fair play to them, but it’s their job.

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    Mute C.S
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    Sep 16th 2015, 2:22 PM

    Half a Siamese twin! Good man choppy!

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    Mute Mikeconnor
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    Sep 16th 2015, 1:06 PM

    Duffy has just cracked one off reading that!

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    Mute Fionn O' Neill
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    Sep 16th 2015, 5:27 PM

    Good man Ray!!!!

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    Mute Bleedin Rapid
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    Sep 16th 2015, 7:03 PM

    That’s the second baby by rathfarnham dfb in a few weeks!

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    Mute Martin Gallagher
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    Sep 16th 2015, 4:35 PM

    Good work DFB, always willing to protect and save those in need. Any thoughts on the economic value on this service Mr. Aaron Mc Kenna?

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    Mute Garreth Mc Mahon
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    Sep 16th 2015, 5:37 PM

    haha lenny. other blokes see your wife’s bits.

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    Mute Jacqueline McMahon
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    Sep 17th 2015, 12:04 AM

    You’re an idiot! That is all.

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