Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand the conversations Revenue has had in respect of people volunteering to have a deduction made from their payment but my concern is around the compliance approach. I say directly the reason that, to my way of thinking, is the more important part of the puzzle is that the vast majority of people who rely on social welfare payments are not in a position to pay this tax. One does not have to be an economist or a mathematical genius to do the sums to understand that if is on a payment of €200 or less, and that is one's source of income, one cannot afford to pay a property tax at any level. One cannot afford to pay it now and unless one's circumstances change dramatically, which sadly for many will not be the case, one will not be able to pay it next year or the year after or the year after that. Ms Feehily told us she had made a request for 100 additional staff. I imagine that large numbers of those staff will be dealing with compliance issues. I emphasise that this is not among a cohort of people who wish to be non-tax compliant. It is a group of people who simply cannot afford to pay the tax. It is extremely heavy-handed. To be honest, I have some sympathy for the Revenue because I would not relish the task of deducting this tax at source, from bank accounts or, worse still, from the social welfare payments of people who cannot afford it.