Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are trying to change this. If the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, can give us any help in so doing, we will be glad of it.

We want fiscal independence from London and the support of the Irish Government in this regard. In the Six Counties rates are based on the valuation of one's home. They are used to fund both local and regional services in the North. The position is not dissimilar to that which obtained in this jurisdiction up to 1977. Crucially, in the Six Counties there are considerable reliefs for the disabled, earners of low incomes, recipients of housing benefit, pensioners, and zero and low-carbon homes. There is none of these exemptions in the Government's Bill.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency stated the average rates bill in the Six Counties was £789, not £1,400 or £2,000, as stated by the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. I would have believed his officials would have known this because at times they would have gone north of the Border. If they did not do so to do anything useful, they did so to be involved in debating societies there. Another Minister claimed the rates bill was up to £2,000 in the North. This must be a reference to people who live on the Gold Coast of north County Down. I do not know too many who live there.

Rates allow for the provision of the following public facilities and services: education, including school books, transport and meals; emergency services, including fire services, for which we pay here; health care; housing; roads, on which there are no tolls; water and sewerage schemes; waste collection; desludging of septic tanks; a range of community services; arts events; environmental health services; leisure and tourism facilities; and waste management. By contrast, householders in this state must pay for all of these services separately out of their income.

Now that we have the facts, I want the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, and his fellow Ministers to refrain from spinning untruths about a part of Ireland they obviously do not know anything about. The home tax has been promoted by the Government, particularly the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, as a tax to fund local authorities and their services. The Government's budget, however, continues to starve local government of much needed funding. In a very cynical move, the charges outlined in the Bill will remain at the same level until after the local elections in 2014, at which time they will be increased.

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