Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As a relatively new Member of this House, I am deeply frustrated and disappointed by the manner in which the Government has scheduled debate in the House this week. As an elected representative of my constituency, I was given a mandate to represent the views of the constituents of Longford-Westmeath. This week, two very important issues which will affect every family, not just this year but for many years to come, have been guillotined. I was lucky enough to get five minutes to speak on the Social Welfare Bill and now I am lucky enough to get seven or eight minutes to speak on the Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill. The latter legislation will have serious ramifications for years to come but is being rushed through this House, despite that it will not come into effect until June 2013. This legislation should have been debated in the context of the Thornhill Report, which has been sitting on the Minister's desk for months and which he has not had the courtesy to make available to other Members of the House. By curtailing debate in this House, the Government is effectively telling the people it purports to represent that it does not wish to hear their views. Are we living in a dictatorship?

Admittedly a form of property tax was part of the original memorandum of understanding with the troika, but this Government has proven that the memorandum can be renegotiated. To its credit, the Government renegotiated on the minimum wage, on which I congratulate it. We all know the troika wants the targets to be met and my party supported the Government in its €3.5 billion correction this year. We also produced a costed alternative, A Fairer Way to Recovery. When Government party Deputies claim our proposals were not costed, are they telling the people that the replies to parliamentary questions are inaccurate? All our information was obtained through the Department of Finance and through parliamentary questions.

When the Government parties drew up their 2011 election manifestos, what did they say? Fine Gael said "an annual recurring residential property tax on the family home is unfair". The Labour Party, while it agreed with a site valuation tax, argued that further detailed study would be required to provide a fair basis for such a charge that would take account of the value of the property in different regions, the need to exempt some categories of home owners and the need to take account of those who recently paid large sums in stamp duty or who are in negative equity. That party's manifesto stated that such a charge could not be put in place "before 2014". Both party's positions have changed quite significantly since then, but then again, their position on many policy issues has changed significantly since 2011. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, said on television last weekend that it is okay for politicians to say one thing in the lead-up to an election and, once elected, to do a totally different thing.

My party's position has changed from where it was then. We believe this is a wrong tax at a wrong time. It is a tax on the family home which will hit struggling home owners at a time when they can least afford it. It will further suffocate a property market which is on its knees. It will reduce domestic spending and will, ultimately, damage the economy.

Let us look at the people who cannot pay this household tax. Figures released this week by the Central Bank show the true extent of the mortgage arrears crisis.

One in four family home mortgages are either in arrears or have been restructured. The simple reality is that 180,000 mortgage holders are experiencing difficulties in repaying their mortgages. How can the Minister expect them to pay a household tax when they cannot pay their mortgages? This comes on top of the Government's failure to support people facing mortgage difficulties. It has permitted the State-owned banks to increase mortgage interest rates and has given them a veto on the Personal Insolvency Bill. It has changed the qualifying criteria for people who apply for mortgage interest relief to make it much more difficult for those who are most in need of support. Now it is arguing that it is fair to tax their family homes because it is done in other countries. It is like giving a glass of water to a drowning person.

I have more to say about those who paid stamp duty or are in negative equity. This is a regressive tax. Take two houses in Mullingar valued at €150,000. In one house a family earns €20,000 per annum while the family in other house comprises a working couple who earn €70,000 or €80,000. Both families will pay the same household tax and both will take the same hit to child benefit payments, fuel surtaxes and PRSI charges. This tax takes no account of people's ability to pay it.

The budget was regressive, just like the last one. Is the Government that out of touch with the people it purports to represent? We proposed a fairer route to recovery which involves taxing those who earn more than €100,000 because they have broader shoulders, but the Government does not care about that. It wants to treat everyone the same, whether rich or poor. It is disgraceful that I will not even get ten minutes to speak on this Bill because of the guillotine. The Government does not want to hear the hard truths about how many people are suffering. How many members of the Cabinet know what it is like to live in a negative equity house? How many know what it is like to be unable to put food on the table? How many know what it is like for old people to turn the heat off in their homes at night because they cannot afford oil? I suspect that not one member knows or cares. What they are doing is utterly disgraceful.

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