Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I oppose this tax, as do the thousands of people who have already attended the meetings. I have also been knocking on doors in my community and people are absolutely opposed to it. They feel it is a tax too far; it is the straw that will break the camel's back in terms of people's incomes, how they are living and how they are rearing their families.

Like every other measure in the budget, this is a regressive, unjust and unfair tax. It is a poll tax. A progressive and civilised society should operate on the basis that essential services are provided free for all and are paid for through a progressive tax system. Those with real wealth should pay the most, and those with little or nothing should be exempt. However, that has been turned on its head and those with little or nothing are enduring the biggest hit and the most wealthy are exempt. This was a recession proof budget for the wealthy in this country. It is shameful that a Government can tax ordinary people again through this double taxation. No wealth or asset tax has been imposed on the wealthy. There are no measures to make nominal taxes on their incomes effective.

This charge is the introduction of a tax that successive Governments have tried to implement over the past 30 years. This is the Minister's opportunity and he said he is determined to introduce it, at the behest of the troika. It is a Trojan horse. The Minister knows that, given that he tried to challenge my colleague. It will lead to a property tax of €600 to €700 or more in two or three years. It will be linked to a water tax of approximately the same amount. We are not talking about €2 per week, and people know it. They are not stupid. They know what happened with the bin tax. It was introduced with the propaganda that it would be only the price of a pint. This charge is being introduced at €2 per week but between the water tax and the property tax people could be facing charges of up to €1,300 per year, which is €25 per week. People know they cannot afford that.

This is another measure to impose the cost of the disastrous bank bailout on the shoulders of ordinary people. Another aspect of this tax is the preparation for the privatisation of water services. I recall when the bin tax was introduced in the Dublin City Council area in 2001. There was a barrage of propaganda about the environment. There were pictures on the television of waste being blown down the streets. It was claimed it was an environmental tax and that it was needed to change people's approach to recycling. On 16 January, Dublin City Council will be the last local authority to privatise the waste collection service. Our bin service has become a profit making commodity for companies. It is no longer a public service for people who need it. Elderly people must pay massive amounts of money to have their waste collected. The green bin will now become part of that payment and there will no longer be a question of people benefiting from recycling.

This tax will be met with massive resistance. A national campaign to encourage non-payment is up and running. Thousands have attended meetings throughout the country. The Government is expecting this because it provided for penal fines in the Bill. If a person does not register and pay by 31 March next, they could be penalised with a class C fine of up to €2,400. In addition, if the person does not reply to the letter seeking the information the Government requires, there could be another fine of €2,400. It is a most aggressive fine on ordinary people.

However, where have fines been imposed on the people who created this mess? Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will see €4,000 taken from his pension. What a terrible scandal. The poor man will be in dire straits, wearing rags on his back, because of the cut in his pension. Meanwhile, the Minister is willing to impose a fine of almost €2,400 on ordinary people who cannot and will not pay this regressive tax.

There will be a huge cost for the taxpayer in imposing an unjust and unpopular tax. This is equivalent to the Domesday taxes that were introduced by a tyrant many centuries ago, whereby taxing masters travelled around taking note of what people owned, including their sheep, cattle and so forth. That is exactly what the Minister is doing. He is getting people to put their names in a register so more taxes can be imposed in the future. We know what he and the Government intend to do.

This will be a hated tax. The bin tax was the start of Fianna Fáil heading for the hills and ending up in their current position. People will fight back. We are not telling them not to register and not to pay: they are telling us they will not do it. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with them. If the Minister imposes this tax, it will be the most hated ever and this will be the most hated Government along with it.

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