Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael)

This Bill makes it obvious that local authorities throughout the country are starved of money. For too long they were completely dependent on development levies. There is a peculiar anomaly that many local authorities are running overdrafts of millions of euro and paying significant interest to the banks yet have development funds worth millions of euro. This is a crazy scenario which has been allowed to happen and it should be addressed. I am pleased the Minister has seen sense and has exempted mobile homes. My area of north Wexford has perhaps more mobile homes than most and the area will be well known to the Minister. The benefit of the mobile home is that people will come and spend money in the local towns. The weather is not good and they are not going to the beaches. They are in the towns and are spending some money, and that is a major benefit.

The Minister must remove the Bord Fáilte registered properties. We must not beat about the bush or talk about it for much longer. They should be taken out and allow the matter be dealt with finally. Everyone in this Chamber is at one on that issue. If we do not take them out we will further impact on our tourist sector, which is already in enough difficulty.

I want to raise two other aspects. The current unemployment level has the capacity to do serious damage. We can charge people who want to holiday in Ireland this rate of €200 by not removing the people with Bord Fáilte registered properties or we can decide not to charge them. If we charge it, the people will not go into towns and spend money in the shops where VAT is collected and people are employed. Those people are essential. If we charge this rate we will have another 150,000 unemployed before the end of this year.

Another important point is that this money will not be easily collected. There will not be an easy method of collecting it. I can envisage every tax avoidance measure being put in place to ensure people do not pay this €200 charge, including properties being put into the names of husbands and wives and only one property owned. That is something we must deal with also. I would like to discuss many other aspects but unfortunately time does not allow me to do that.

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