Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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Before I make my contribution, I will place on the record my involvement in certain aspects of what I am going to discuss, that is, farming and my provision of accommodation of many different types, be it to students or the local authority. When I speak, however, I do so on behalf of my constituents, the witnesses' organisations, members of their organisations who contact me daily regarding the issues, problems and difficulties they have and, of course, people from County Kerry. I warmly welcome the witnesses. I thank them for the excellent contributions they have made so far, which have been crystal clear. I wish to add my view on certain aspects of what is happening at the moment.

I will deal first with the site valuation tax. In the past fortnight I met with our local authority, which will implement the tax in County Kerry.

I highlighted at the meeting that we have farmers who are actively farming, and predominantly in the cases I am talking about, they are milking. Anybody who knows anything about milk and the production of milk knows that every blade of grass is vital. It is unusual, but I know people who are farming, who are in the middle of towns. People might find it unusual but in the heart of Killarney town, I recently met with a farmer whom I know very well, who is producing milk. He is terribly worried about the site valuation tax. He has no intention whatsoever of selling up to build houses, to develop or anything like that. I am acutely aware of the need for housing, but if an established farmer who did not get sucked in to the previous boom and bust that we had, who just put his head down and continued milking his cows and producing, and doing what he always did and the people before him did, how could we think it right and proper to put a tax on a person like that? It is criminal to even suggest that we should do that. If we take the budget of a person who is on the periphery of a town or a village and he or she wants to continue, how dare we interfere with that if it is their livelihood?

I hear other politicians in the Dáil speak about farmers and their land as if it is an asset. They talk about the value of the property, and think that an acre equals such an amount of money, but to a real farmer - a person who is producing beef or milk and who is working - the value of the land never comes into it because he or she does not own it. Only farmers will know what I am talking about when I say this - they are custodians. It is not a possession. It is not something that they can pick up, take away and sell if they feel like it on a whim. It is not that type of asset. They are given a tool and the use of a piece of ground. If people are useless, they will do nothing with it, and if they are workers and are motivated, they will improve it, make it better and produce more out of it. They will be trying to get it to a better place by the time they finish their time on this earth. Will they sell it before they do? They will like blazes. They will pass it on to the next generation and be very glad to do so. Anybody that is fortunate enough to inherit a farm, all they do is use it to make a living and they pass it on. The sooner the better other politicians realise that land like that is not a commodity. It is not stocks and shares, it is not that type of asset; it is something that God gave us that is there to use while we are here. That is a very important point. We must have a derogation and exemption because where a person is proven to be farming, he or she cannot be taxed on the land. It flies in the face of all fairness. It cannot be right. Of course, if we had a person who was sitting on land, and there were briars growing out over the ditches, and it was not being used, and if it was a valuable site that could be used by the local authority or a developer to build houses that are very much needed now more than ever before, of course I would say that the land should be taxed, but not if a person is using their ground for the purpose of making a living. That is the first point I want to make. Coming out of this committee, I think with all my heart and soul that there should be an exemption on the tax. The local authorities are only going to implement the rules that we give them. I could not emphasise how much we have to go back and look at that. I say directly to the people involved in it that we must look at that again.

I take a small bit of exception to one figure that was bandied about earlier. That is when I hear talk about people paying 52% tax on rental income. While I am no financial guru, I do know about tax. If we study it, it is not 52%; it is actually 56%. When other politicians talk about the people who own property and say that they are making a fortune, I would like them to really look at it and realise that the person who is making a fortune is the Minister for Finance because he is taking €560 out of every €1,000 of rent. I was very glad last night that Sinn Féin again tabled a very good motion to debate, which it does on a regular basis. I am very grateful to the party, and I always thank it for its input. We spoke last night about the high cost of rent. I accept that is the case, but people must please understand that the biggest takers out of the rent that is being charged at the moment are the Revenue Commissioners, the Minister for Finance and the Department of Finance. They are taking 56% or €560 out of every €1,000. That leaves €440 left to pay for the property, to pay the banks, to pay for the maintenance, to pay the property tax, to insure the property, to keep it in a good order, to pay all the duties that are due and to keep the show rolling.

I again thank the contributors who spoke here this evening regarding the massive exodus of people leaving the rental sector. I started out in this business when I was 19 years of age, as did many of my friends at the time. All I can say is that there are very few of us left, because they could not stick it. The reason they could not stick it is what is being done. All we need to do is listen to what is going on inside in the Dáil. People who own a property are being attacked. It is as if there is something wrong with them. What they are doing is playing a very important role. I would dearly love to see more local authority houses being built. I also want to see more single rural cottages being built. I want to see local authorities being empowered with the ability to buy land, get planning permission, build homes for people, give them to them and then in time those people being able to purchase them. So far, this Government and successive Governments have failed dismally in doing that and, therefore, we do actively need to be involved in the private sector.

It is not many years ago that it made sense and it would have been financially prudent and possible for a person with a bit of gumption and the ability to borrow money - rather than a case of having money - to make a case to buy a house and to rent it out, pay tax, run the show and have it working away. That made sense one time. Today, it does not make sense because it is hard enough for a person to buy a house for themselves, to be able to finance it and to afford it, but for anybody to think that it would make sense for a person to buy a property, pay 56% tax on it, pay for the money borrowed and for all the other costs involved and then have people tell them at the same time that they have no say whatsoever over the property. They want it to be the case that a person would have no say, what I call "rightlessness", in the house whatsoever, that he or she is only providing the accommodation and that is it. That is not fair either. There must be a balance. Every week in my clinics in Killarney, Kenmare, Killorglin, north Kerry, east Kerry, south Kerry, west Kerry there is nothing but people stuck for housing because nobody is involved in the private sector any more.

In the Taoiseach's constituency, a group of 70 people have come together and formed an unofficial club. They are selling out. Every one of them owns property, be it single properties or multiple properties. They have gone to the Taoiseach and told his family members that they are bailing out because they are under constant attack, and it just does make sense for them to be doing it any more.