Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister was listening to the previous speaker because, unfortunately, the Minister has not been listening to the points raised by others. This is yet another regressive tax in a regressive budget. It will hit families on small and medium incomes in the same way it will impact on those on higher incomes. Other regressive measures in this budget include the removal of PRSI exemption on lower incomes and changes to the car tax regime. These measures will impact on all families and, unfortunately, they are being introduced in a way that rolls back on the promises made by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. I join my colleagues in objecting to the way in which business was ordered for the House this week. I do not doubt the Government guillotined this Bill and the Social Welfare Bill because it does not want to allow the Opposition to challenge it on its failure to stick to the promises it made 18 months ago. Its efforts to stifle debate show it does not want the public to be reminded of the approach it is taking.

Deputy Troy noted that one in ten mortgages is more than 90 days in arrears. Those people, who cannot afford their mortgages, will be forced to pay the property tax. However, those who have not yet purchased a house are to be given an exemption from the tax for several years, even though they will be purchasing at the bottom of the market.

I ask the Minister to address an issue with the penalty system for the second home tax whereby some people who were not aware of the tax for genuine reasons which were not their own fault are now facing arrears of several thousand euro. Local authorities are taking a non-negotiable position on the payment of these arrears. I understand the Minister intends to keep the second home tax for another year. I ask him to consider the arrears issue and, at a minimum, draw a line underneath the accrual of arrears by the small number of people who are only now finding out about the tax.

Overall, I am disappointed to see the cavalier attitude with which Fine Gael and the Labour Party have treated their mandate and the promises they made to the public when they entered government only 18 months ago. I object to the Bill and to the property tax.

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