Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry for being late for this element of the debate. I am conscious that I did not hear all the contributions but I imagine they were framed around the experience over countless years of debating, here and elsewhere, this particular proposition. In discussions about how we tax wealth, I am always intrigued, not by the division between left and right but by the divisions within the broad left about what constitutes wealth and how it should be taxed. With every due respect to my colleague who is sitting on my right, he is on my right in many cases, including on this issue, and to the right of People Before Profit and, indeed, Sinn Féin. Respect is due to the Deputies for defending this principle for years. They do not believe that homes and home ownership should be taxed. In fact, homes are our biggest source of wealth and the largest asset most of us will ever own. We cannot, by definition, have a wealth tax that excludes forms of taxation on assets like residential property, land and other non-productive assets. That is where I depart from my colleague, Deputy Boyd Barrett, and others. Most wealth in this country is held in assets, not in income.

The Commission on Taxation and Welfare produced a very detailed and comprehensive independent report last year, which we have yet to debate fully in the Dáil Chamber. There is a wariness, not just on the part of the Government, to adopt some of the firm and clear measures in that report. There is a reluctance on the part of some members of the Opposition to accept some of the very straightforward social democratic principles in the report, such as ensuring we maintain a broad tax base, which means retaining things like the universal social charge, taxes on property like the very modest local property tax and other measures. I have no difficulty whatsoever with the proposal before us if it makes a contribution to an open discussion on how we tax wealth. However, we must understand what wealth is and the form it takes in this country. I do not support any proposition that would narrow the tax base when what we need to be doing is making sure it is broad enough to invest in the public services we require and ensuring our tax system is sustainable.