Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the amendment tabled by Deputy Burton which goes to the heart of the debate on this Bill. Deputy Burton opens up the issue of addressing anomalies that have arisen in stamp duty. I agree with the Deputy that the Bill before us today is only a partial response to the problems that have been created by the stamp duty structure.

The Minister does not need me to tell him that the thresholds on stamp duty are entirely different from those that operate within the income tax code, for example. One does not have a band that is exempt, a band that is at a certain rate, with only the excess over a certain price charged at the top rate. The effect of this on families has been savage. It means that for every 1% increase in house prices, we have seen a 4% increase in the stamp duty bill. This has had a massive impact on very ordinary families, particularly in Dublin. In 2002, the stamp duty on an average house in Dublin was €9,000, which many people thought was a great deal of money, although perhaps it was affordable. However, today, the stamp duty on a similar house is €41,000. House prices in the intervening period have grown by 75% but the stamp duty bill has quadrupled. There is no justice in that and the people who are being singled out for this tax are not in the investor or speculator category. They are not super rich, but ordinary families who want to buy in a neighbourhood with established services. They include people who need to move on and make a fresh start following the breakdown of a marriage, or people who want to move from a one-bedroom apartment to a house. Why should these people be singled out for savage tax treatment?

In no other area of the taxation code has the yield quadrupled in a four-year period. Under no other tax are people asked to pay €41,000 in one fell swoop, the equivalent of an entire annual salary of many who are in the first-time buyer market. There is no justice in that and, as Deputy Burton stated, these anomalies were unintentional. As the former Minister Charlie McCreevy told us, the taxation code was designed by William of Orange and dates back to a long time ago when the world as we know it was never envisaged. We need to consolidate the code and bring people back into the inner cities where there is property. That was not a consideration of William of Orange. The code must be modernised, workable and accepted as fair. This is a task for the 30th Dáil.

The Minister for Finance has not been keen to reform stamp duty, but he now has five years in which to think about it. He has agreed to a taxation commission, which should be mandated to look at it as the amendment requests. I would go much further and I have tabled an amendment seeking to immediately reform this tax. I will not rerun the debate during the general election but many believe the tax we are exacting from the housing market is unfair, unjust, unsustainable and incoherent. This tax is important to many families and also in the context of long-term competitiveness because the way the housing market has gone is undermining the whole competitive base of the economy. This is not the only area of the taxation code that must be reformed but it is an important step in producing a system that is equitable and fair.

See this speech in context