Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

In Northern Ireland, there are two charges. The Deputies spoke about three charges down here. There are two up there. The regional rate is set by the Northern Ireland Executive in Stormont, of which Sinn Féin is a part. Councils, on which Sinn Féin have members in many cases, set the district rate, which meets needs such as building control, community centres, leisure facilities, tourism, waste management, and so on.

Sinn Féin Deputies cannot have it both ways. They cannot say €100 is not acceptable in one part of the country while saying the opposite on the other side of the Border. They cannot face two ways at once. That is not acceptable, and it is the weakness in their argument. It would have been better for Sinn Féin Deputies to put the motion and, if it were beaten, to tell people to pay the charge. Notwithstanding that they do not support the charge, they should encourage people to pay, given the penalties people will face if they persist in not doing so. People who listen to the "No" voice will end up in greater difficult, and not less. After two years of non-payment a person will owe €280, compared with a maximum of €200 if the charge was paid on time. People are being led astray.

The law is very clear. We are talking about the law of the land. I accept that it is perfectly acceptable to propose a motion calling for the repeal of an Act. Should the Act not be repealed, and it is more than likely it will not, people can be brought to court for non-payment and will face a fine of up to €2,500. As well as that fine, a person will be liable to a penalty of €100 per day until the charge is paid. It is better for people to pay now.

This is an interim charge for this year. We need a property tax and it will be introduced. It will be more acceptable because those who have more will pay more.

In Northern Ireland, payment is unavoidable. Deputy Stanley claimed Sinn Féin held charges at a certain level. I am sorry to inform him that a BBC news bulletin of 14 February 2012 reported that Strabane rates were to rise by almost 4%. On local councils and in the Executive, Sinn Féin supports the increasing of charges on every house and dwelling in Northern Ireland. In the South, more than 200,000 households are exempt from the household charge. Anyone who rents a house from a local authority or in the private sector, is in receipt of mortgage interest subsidy from the HSE or lives in category 3 or 4 housing on an unfinished estate does not pay.

Sinn Féin Deputies must face the truth. People cannot accept the validity of an argument that is hollow at its core. It is bluff and bluster. It is pointless populism. It is time for Sinn Féin to face the reality, to be accountable as a political party, to be a true opposition and argue the issues. They should not encourage people to go into a more difficult financial place where some may end up in court. I do not want to see people go there. Sinn Féin should encourage their supporters to pay the charge, notwithstanding the fact that they do not agree with it. That is the law of the land. They should obey the law.

The average domestic rates bill in Northern Ireland for 2011 was €980. It is made up of the regional rate and the local council rate.

The practical position is that by international standards, the revenue base of local authorities in Ireland has been relatively narrow, with local authorities here being disproportionately dependent on central Government funding. The figures I have indicate that the total budget spent by all local authorities in the country is approximately €4 billion per annum. We are talking about taking in approximately €160 million with the household charge. The charge is small in proportion to the total cost of local government. The introduction in 2009 of the non-principal private residence charge represented an important step change in how local government is financed and was the first dedicated new source of funding for local authorities in some years. It did not, however, go far enough to address the imbalance in the sector's financing. The introduction of the household charge must be seen as a further step in seeking to place the funding of local authorities on a relatively stable, local basis that will not, among other things, be subject to the volatility associated with transaction-based activity. That is the reality. We based our tax income on income from the sale of houses. The shattering reality with which we were faced when the property bubble collapsed and the world economy went into recession was that we did not have a sustainable method of funding Government, in particular, local government. That is what this is all about. That is the reality of Government. It is the reality Sinn Féin has faced in the North and it will have to face in this Parliament if it wishes to be a true Opposition.

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