Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I will take advantage of the absence of a Member on the Government side offering to speak. I support the Bill introduced by my colleague, Deputy O'Dowd, and empathise with the sentiments expressed by other speakers. This is an opportune time to debate the imposition on overburdened householders of another payment over and above the other forms of taxation they must bear. People must now borrow four or five times their income to secure a mortgage loan, with payments accounting for most of their income. They hope, therefore, that the housing market will not collapse.

Tenants and householders face countless financial impositions, which continue to increase in cost and frequency. In my time in the House I have never encountered a case such as one I came across a few days ago when I was informed that within two weeks of moving into a house, a tenant of a local authority was informed that he must pay a massive sum of money. The main priority for those who need a home is to be able to move into a house and afford the rent. This has changed, however, because tenants are being flogged to the post by the imposition of development charges.

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