Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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It is a rum and politically diverse bunch proposing this amendment. There is no doubt about that. I hope that Deputy Michael Healy-Rae does not think of withdrawing the amendment based on the accusation by Deputy Boyd Barrett that he is a socialist. I do not know how comfortable Deputy Michael Healey-Rae would be with that label. I understand entirely what Deputy Boyd Barrett and the other sponsors of the amendment are trying to achieve. The amendment is not particularly precise about what a national solidarity tax would involve. I am not averse to having a discussion about taxation. It is a discussion we need to have in this country, if we want to fund the public services we say that we all want to see. However, I would be careful about how we should proceed, particularly around income at this sensitive time, considering everything that our economy is experiencing at the moment. Then again, the focus needs to be on wealth. Deputy Boyd Barrett will know well that the vast bulk of wealth in this country is not in incomes but in assets. Many of those are non-productive assets that are often passed from generation to generation, often relatively unmolested by the Revenue Commissioners. That is where the discussion, I think, needs to be, with respect to what the movers of the amendment wish to achieve. I would guard against any movement in the direction of focusing imprecisely on taxable income at this stage in the game. Our focus should be entirely on net assets and how we can tax them in a way that will benefit our society more broadly.