Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The Minister, Deputy Gormley, stated his amendment went further than the Fine Gael amendment, demonstrating a great hypocrisy. The Minister published legislation which allowed people in long-term care and those with granny flats attached to their homes to be subject to the charge. He accused Fine Gael and the media of being mischievous when we raised the issue, but he now praises himself for introducing an amendment that is better than the Fine Gael amendment. That represents a great political hypocrisy and double standards and it is difficult to take the Minister seriously when he debases politics by making such spurious comments. I welcome the amendment, which had to be dragged out of the Minister through the airwaves on RTE radio 1, as was the case with the mobile home amendment on Joe Duffy's show. The Minister had to be dragged into reality concerning the category of people included in the charge. He now, however, praises himself for excluding these people.

The family is very important in any community. The Minister sought to impose on families a charge for attaching a granny flat to a principal private residence but such families would be exempt if a mobile home were in the back garden. This represents a lack of joined-up thinking and I have no idea what took place at the Cabinet meeting at which the Minister initially introduced the Bill. I do not understand how it was not spotted in the context of observations from other Ministers on the Fianna Fáil side, of which there are not many here tonight to support the Minister. Nevertheless, I welcome the fact that the Minister has carried out another U-turn with this amendment and that he has put forward an acceptable definition. However, I seek clarification on two aspects. What does he mean by "long-term" in the legislation? How long is "long-term" in terms of mental or physical infirmity in subsection (5)(a)? What is the definition of a relation in subsection 6(b)? It states that, for the purposes of paragraph (a) , a "relative" includes a relation of the spouse or partner of the owner. What is meant by "relation"?

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