Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Labour Party will also oppose this resolution. This is a mean tax increase, particularly for older people and those on low incomes. I refer to those who use cheques rather than credit or laser cards.

Many of us remember much comment in the House and in society in general some years ago to discourage older people from holding large amounts of cash in their homes. People were robbed and assaulted, or murdered in the case of one man, for relatively small amounts of cash in the house. Much effort went into encouraging people to open bank accounts, transfer their pension payments to the bank and use a cheque book for major bills. Many of these people have not moved on to credit or laser cards for a number of good reasons. Many older people are not comfortable with credit cards, particularly the new chip and pin system, because they find it intimidating.

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