Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

According to the Government, this tax is set to bring in €500 million. Let us suppose everyone pays it; it is reasonable for people to ask what they will get for it. What they get is a dysfunctional local government system. Local government fund spending has been reduced from €999 million at its peak in 2009 to €615 million in 2012, a reduction of €384 million or 38%. Local authority revenue streams such as commercial rates have contracted also. This tax will essentially fill the gap.

The historical development of local government shows a pattern of a strong, centralised authority reserving and guarding powers that would be better exercised at local level. During the years reforms have been piecemeal and timid. The Bill, far from being a departure to sustain local government, fits very well into the long line of measures from the Executive to extract funding from citizens without providing any semblance of a local service available in other countries. What is happening here is a smash and grab. The legislation will create monsters of the Revenue Commissioners by pitching them against a significant number of citizens to the point at which it will become an administrative nightmare for the Revenue Commissioners and potentially damage its ability to collect other taxes. It is easy to foresee the stampede of Revenue officials who will seek transfers or opt to leave. This is a very dangerous development.

The campaign of civil disobedience entered into by so many in respect of the household charge has filled the protest vacuum. When this measure is applied, people will see deductions from their wages or social welfare payments which, in turn, will take food off family tables. That will be the straw that will break the camel's back for those who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

The only part of the Bill that refers to what is local is the Title. This is a slush fund for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who claimed that 65% of the revenue raised should be assigned to the relevant local authority. The other 35% will be distributed to other parts of the country in the same disgraceful and inequitable way the local government fund has been distributed. No developed country that is serious about proper local government goes about it this way. Abroad, local representatives vote on local taxation measures and the money stays in the locality. Here, we do it backwards.

There is a serious risk that section 143 is unconstitutional. I do not believe the family home can be invaded in the way envisaged in the section. I hope the Minister will withdraw its provisions next week.

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