Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

While people say that we do not have a property tax, in real terms it is taxed when a person passes away, as there is an inheritance tax. We have very low thresholds before a person gets into paying inheritance tax compared with the UK. It is €40,000 for a nephew or niece, which is very low in real terms. It is €400,000 for a child. I may be wrong on the figures but it is there or thereabouts. These figures are very low when compared with the UK in terms of inheritance tax. So to suggest that we do not tax wealth is incorrect.

We do. You cannot take it with you. If you leave it all to charity, there is no tax but if you leave it to family or friends, there is a tax. It is a very good way of dealing with it. If a person with a very low income has a very valuable house and we put a wealth tax on it, we have a problem in that the person finds it difficult to pay it. We run into major problems. This happens on a regular basis in the UK.