Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)

We would not be having this debate if our country was in a different position and if our economy had not been destroyed in the way it has been. The blame for that quite rightly rests with some developers, bankers, builders and politicians. We cannot blame outsiders for the economic crisis we are in. This debate would not be taking place today if it were not for that.

It is not mentioned sufficiently often that we exist under the benevolence of a handout from some of our European neighbours and our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom, who keep the lights on for us and give us a cheque for €1.2 billion at the end of every month. We have to be realistic, deal with the state of the country as it is and not delude ourselves into believing we can oppose everything that comes in front of the House. It does not work like that.

The preoccupation of those on this side of the House is to turn the economy around, end the live register and get people off the dole and working. It is our single most important function. We know where we stand in this House. One is either for or against that. The priority is getting people back to work to fix the economy. This Bill is part of it. Do we expect more from those who have given us €1.2 billion? I doubt it.

I have heard people in opposition oppose the Bill and say the household charge is unfair. They are perfectly right; it is unfair. It is like a turkey voting for Christmas. I am one of the few people in the House who supports the principle of a property tax. Almost every other European country has one. Some of the people who have been the vanguard of that have been the Socialist Party in France. In Italy, the Communist Party has the policy that the greater the size of one's property and garden, the larger the amount of tax one pays. Those who say they are opposed to the household charge cannot oppose everything permanently for nine or ten months. What about proposing something? If this is not the answer they should propose a solution.

There has to be some means of funding local authorities. This is the best way, given that there are no other proposals. I wish to remind those in opposition who have opposed the charge that there are things more horrible than household charges. One of them was when some of the people in opposition walked in here in September 2008 and voted to bail out banks, at a cost of billions of euro - rather than €100 - to the taxpayer, and brought the country to its current crisis. I have listened to some of them crying about a €100 charge when they went through the lobbies to bail out Anglo Irish Bank for billions of euro. It says a lot about the political status of the House.

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