Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----and that it would more sympathetic to homeowners if it were not introduced?

Does the Tánaiste have sympathy with the view that the Revenue Commissioners have been chosen to collect the property tax because this is the only way the money involved can be extracted from people as a result of the fact that they simply cannot afford to pay? Imagine the scene that will obtain when many people on social welfare payments or modest incomes have money deducted from those payments or their salaries. They will be obliged to make sacrifices in respect of necessities such as putting bread on the table, paying fees and heating their homes. I ask the Tánaiste to reconsider what is being done here. There are other ways of collecting this tax. Did the Government collect the household charge through the Revenue Commissioners? The reason it is not collecting the property tax in the same way it collected the household charge is that people cannot pay. The Government's attitude is that it is going to bring in the heavy gang-----

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