Sinn Fein is being accused of "rigging" a public consultation process in relation to the local property tax (LPT).

Labour TD Arthur Spring said reports that Sinn Fein members themselves wrote a vast majority of public submissions on the local property tax in Kerry, revealed a shocking manipulation of local democracy.

He said: "At a council meeting earlier this week, it emerged the party were behind more than 300 of the 405 public submissions received by Kerry County Council calling for a 15% reduction in LPT.

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"They have since conceded that they typed up generic submissions and asked people to sign them during a local canvass, and then had them delivered to the council offices.

"One of their Councillors even referred to the huge volume of public submissions calling for an LPT decrease during the meeting, ignoring the fact that their fingerprints were over the vast majority of them.

"Sinn Fein has clearly rigged what should otherwise be a transparent public consultation process that is free from political interference.

"Questions need to be asked as to whether this cynical tactic is being employed by the party in other local authority areas around the country, and if so, they should cease the practice immediately."

(CD/JP)