Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Deputy Eoghan Murphy on bringing forward this Bill. There are some very good points in it. I particularly like the proposal to ensure greater transparency in how our tax euro are spent. There is a concern among people - often expressed by our constituents - that the money they pay in taxes goes into a black hole and it is unclear to them where and how their money is being spent and whether it is being spent effectively. Anything that helps to improve transparency in the tax system must be welcomed by everybody in this House.

I have some comments to make on the Bill and I am expressing them in the hope they will add to it because they are meant to be helpful. The first is whether we send this statement to people's houses by post or electronically. The phrase used by the people in south east is "on d'Internet". My preference is that it should be "on d'Internet". As the Minister said, we do not want to be seen to be increasing costs for the State at a time when we are finding it difficult to pay our bills. The system we should consider should be a voluntary one whereby if one wants to find out where one's money is going, one should type in one's PPS number and some sort of security password to get a statement. It would be environmentally more friendly and, as the Minister said, it would be much more cost-effective. That might be something worth taking on board.

I refer to extending the system to local authorities. Earlier speakers spoke about the need to ensure transparency not only at national level but at local level. That is something which comes up again and again on the doorsteps. People ask why are they spending this money and whether their property tax is going to cut the grass in their estate because they do that themselves. People have no idea where the local authorities are spending their money. I would like to see the remit of this Bill extended to local authorities.

I lived for a while in the UK and I paid the council tax which was of the order £800 to £900 per annum and nothing like the €100 per annum we are asked for here. It is at a similar level to what Sinn Féin introduced in the North of Ireland. Each council in the UK produces a booklet each year which tells people exactly where their money goes. It states the amount spent on playgrounds, fire engines, etc., so people are very clear what they are getting for the council tax. A similar system here would be very useful. If it was available online, people could log on to the websites of Meath County Council or Dublin City County to check exactly where their money is being spent, which would be very helpful.

This is very worthwhile legislation. I am not sure whether all of it should be implemented but it has certainly succeeded in generating a debate. I hope the Minister will take on board many of the points raised today. I thank Deputy Eoghan Murphy for producing this legislation.

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