Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not an experienced politician but I back Deputy Burton up because I was informed a few days after the budget that an organisation in Dublin was told on the Friday before the budget. That is what I heard and I claim that what I say is the truth.

In the line of what the Minister of State has said, we all need clarification on this transition period. There is no point coming out of a meeting and not knowing what the Minister of State has said. Is he saying that the 2% is applicable until the Finance Bill has been passed? A clear message needs to go out from this committee.

The Minister of State spoke about 850,000 sq. ft of office space in Dublin. We are fully in favour of this for the big guy who can afford to pay big money, and we had tabled a later amendment to tackle the vultures who are crippling this country and ordinary people right around, it but it was ruled out of order. However, that is for another day. We are talking about the small business person who is trying to survive in every one of our constituencies. It is like talking about the elephant and the mouse.

The Minister of State spoke about the time the country was in crisis. Some parts of the country, thankfully, have made some recovery. I am not being pessimistic but other parts have not made the same recovery. The Minister of State has spoken about hotels and I compliment him on what he has done for them in the VAT rate. We are reliant on the farming and small business communities to bring in revenue. Will the Minister of State and the Department give those people breathing space? Those amendments were tabled to make sure we hit the big operator who has plenty of money. We are not talking about the people who can get millions of euro. We are talking about what other Deputies outlined earlier, namely, people who have gone too far to get €10,000 or €12,000 more from a bank. This is a problem in rural Ireland and this Bill has not been proofed for rural Ireland.

If the Minister of State talks to auctioneers around the country he will find that land deals are at risk because the extra €10,000, €12,000 or €20,000 is not available. That is very clear. The Minister of State should read the articles the solicitors wrote. It is not just me saying this. We will stifle them. I am not talking about the guy who can get €40,000 worth of a tax rebate or allowance. I am talking about a person who does not have enough land to rent to get €8,000 or €10,000. I am not talking about highfalutin operators but about normal people in normal parts of rural Ireland who have family farms. That is what we are trying to protect, not the big operators.