Howlin dismisses fears over services as councils vote to reduce property tax
The Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin is downplaying fears that services will need to be scaled back by councils who cut the property tax.
It follows the decision by Dublin City Council to reduce the property tax by 15%, and Cork County Council by 10%.
Kildare County Councillors have voted to reduce the rate of property tax in the county by 7.5%, that is half the full permissable reduction of 15%.
A further 7.5% of the tax is now to be ring-fenced for expenditure in each of Kildare's municipal districts.
Dublin City Manager Owen Keegan warned that homeless services could suffer as a result.
However, Minister Howlin says enough money is still available to protect spending.
He said: "Because of the decision of the Government to allow 80% of the property tax collected in the city to stay in the city, even with giving 15% back to taxpayers, they will have a significant surplus over last year.
"So they have more money than they had last year."
