Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

-----and to Irish politics. She made a particular contribution to the development of Labour Party health policy. One of the things I will be interested to observe in the future - Fine Gael has a similar policy - is how such a system can be successfully superimposed on the present structure and what sort of vested interests will be encountered along the way.

While I am on the subject, I believe Deputy Crawford will also retire from the House, and I pay tribute to the service he has given to an electorate that lives along the Border, including during troubled times. I have had quite a bit of contact with the Deputy on different issues and I have always found him an exceptionally honourable and decent parliamentarian, speaking from the heart about his community.

The issue raised by Deputies Doherty and D'Arcy relates to tax relief on sites transferred between a parent and his or her child. The cost of this relief is €6 million in a year. Offspring are still eligible for the half-rate applicable to transfers between family members. It should be pointed out that the average price of an acre of agricultural land is now less than €10,000, and if such a site were transferred, no tax would be payable. That price is considerably less than it was a couple of years ago. On a piece of land suitable for residential development, which would cost more than average, the rate of duty would still be low, at 1% between €10,000 and €20,000, and so on.

We should recall that Ireland is one of the only OECD countries that does not have an annual tax on property. We need to broaden the tax base, and a tax on property is one way to do this. This has been recommended not only by the Commission on Taxation but by nearly every independent body. I find it surprising that all parties in the House, including Sinn Féin, are on the conservative side of the Government on this issue.

The capital gains tax relief on the transfer of sites to children for the purpose of building a principal private residence remains in place. However, as many of us know from planning decisions, we need to be aware of the potential for abuse. For example, in a family with five children, sites may be released to each of the five children and then sold on after a little while to people outside the family. This has happened in the past. The system as it is at present confers a considerable benefit. I will be interested to see whether the parties opposite, if they come to this side, will still make the same arguments in a few months' time.

Deputy O'Donnell raised the issue of stamp duty relief on certain dates. The possibility of stamp duty changes in the budget was generally recognised, and the problem - as mentioned by Deputy Hayes - is that no matter what date is fixed, some people will unfortunately be just on the wrong side. To fix a date of 30 November would perhaps increase the sense of injustice felt by those who bought on 29 November.

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