This morning the Taoiseach gave assurances that nobody will face hikes in property tax as a result of a review of increased house prices. Will he tell us the basis for giving that assurance? Is there a review of the local property tax in the context of the baselines used and the equalisation fund? The fact that the census of population is not considered at all and that some of the figures used as the basis for property tax date back to the early 2000s makes it a completely flawed model. What reviews are under way?

A working group has been established to examine the matter. The Ministers for Housing, Planning and Local Government and for Finance are involved and the group will take into account the content of the Thornhill report with a view to reporting itself sometime next year. The assurance I gave people yesterday was on foot of a question I was asked in London. In answering that question, I acknowledged that without a change of policy or in the absence of a Government decision, some people - not just in the greater Dublin area but also in other many parts of the country - would be facing a steep and sudden increase in property tax in 2019. I gave the assurance that people would not experience a sudden or dramatic increases in their property tax in 2019.