Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----some 1.6 million households are potentially liable for the household charge. The Department of Finance document states that the Revenue believes there could be up to 1.9 million households liable. Let us use the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government's figure of 1.6 million. The full-year projection of €500 million divided by 1.6 million households assumes a 100% collection rate and gives an average charge per house of €313. Does the Minister really believe he will achieve a 10% collection rate in respect of the property tax? I believe he will need to revisit the estimated yield from this measure.

Will the banks be liable to the property tax for properties they have repossessed from families? Why is the Minister excluding sites that are zoned for residential development, which would have been captured under a site-value tax? The proposed mansions tax is little more than a sop to the Labour Party in return for Fine Gael getting its way on the highest income earners not having to pay any more direct taxation. The mansions tax is essentially a Dublin tax. Homes worth more than €1 million are rare enough in Dublin and are extremely rare outside Dublin.

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