Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Finance is sitting opposite me and, no harm to him, will not even tell this committee what is an undisputed fact. The effective tax rate for landlords has reduced in the past ten years. That is a fact. The Minister will not admit that because it challenges his measure. It challenges what he said. It challenges the rationale where he said tax is a reason landlords are leaving. I ask him to point out to me one taxation measure introduced in the past ten years that has increased the tax burden on landlords. As well as this one, section 2 on USC will reduce it and section 11 on income tax will reduce it. It happened last year. It happened the year before and it happened the year before that. The year before, we increased mortgage interest relief from 80% to 100%. That reduces the effective tax rate. All of these combined reduce it. It is not just me saying it. The Minister's own Department is saying it in its tax strategy papers but he will not admit it because it completely debunks the rationale for Fianna Fáil again lining the pockets of landlords. That is the reality. The Minister will not even say what is an indisputable fact that all knowledgeable people in this committee know as fact. I will give another example. Does the Minister accept the fact the effective tax rate for landlords has reduced in the past decade?