Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Okay. For the large majority of people who form part of the negative equity generation the preferred modus operandi of payment is via debit or credit card. According to the demographics of what we know about debit and credit cards, there are almost 5 million held in this country. Retailers are concerned about Christmas. Whatever about that, people are concerned about the amount of money that will be taken out of their pockets.

Many people have approached me to say that in the space of a couple of months they will be paying €1,000 or upwards in property tax for moderate houses that are very heavily mortgaged. I do not know if the Revenue Commissioners have exhausted the merchant services providers with regard to how the service could be provided. Debit and credit cards could be set up in a way to take money from the account over the calendar year 2014. I spoke to some credit card experts today. Do the witnesses feel this can be addressed now or, as was noted earlier, could it be considered for the future? Is the notice too short?