Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I want to press the amendment, a Cheann Comhairle, because this goes to the heart of why the economy collapsed and why so many people are suffering unemployment and many of the young have very little immediate prospect of getting work. Basically, we hear tax breaks work because we have a hunch they will actually encourage this person or that to invest. Of course everybody wants to see derelict run-down areas in any town or city being redeveloped. My first involvement in politics was in relation to large parts of Dublin city centre falling down; people were being killed when houses collapsed on them.

However, it is not good enough to say one wants to redevelop if the system then turns that redevelopment process into a type of casino lottery win for super-wealthy people. The social dividend must go not just to the developers but to the ordinary taxpayers. In future, if we decide to exempt certain people or actions from tax, we must have evidence which says it is worthwhile not to charge this or that section the full range of taxes, because we will get jobs and development. What Fianna Fáil did became the trigger for a might episode of gambling and mad speculation on property. This morning, for instance, we see we are going to have fields all around every town in Ireland, where people speculated on buying four fields, say, for some enormous housing development that will never happen.

Fianna Fáil was in contrition mode yesterday. It used to be the case that there was confession, but we have never yet had a confession from Fianna Fáil for what it did. We had some contrition, yesterday, but there is the purpose of amendment-----

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