Deuty Stephen S. Donnelly:

They said a lot of things the Minister is not doing. I have paid local property tax in London and elsewhere abroad. I did not mind paying it because it provided me with local services. I got a letter from the council explaining what I had paid and what I was getting for it. This Bill, however, does none of those things and it is grossly unfair.

I am bemused as to why the Minister is going ahead with this. It is not for local services. If it were, people in County Wicklow and South Dublin County would not pay more than anybody else when the services are less expensive to produce. Therefore we know it is not for local services. It is astounding that the Minister is not looking at the net value of the house. As someone of that generation who knows many people in negative equity, including myself, it astounds me that any government would say, "You made a big mistake. You were one of the parties involved in that mistake and it has financially wiped you out. Your generation who did that will get back to zero at about 55 years of age. For the rest of your lives this one mistake you made will destroy you financially, but we are going to tax you on that".

I have a student loan, so why does the Minister not tax me on that? I am sure that many Members of the House have overdrafts, so why does he not tax them? It is extraordinary. In addition, the Minister is not bringing in an inability to pay clause. Why not? As Deputy Ross and others have said, what will the Minister say to those who do not have money to feed their children? What will he tell those who walk into our constituency offices - and I am sure the Minister's also - and say they have suicidal thoughts or their children are hungry?

A person may live in a house the market value of which might be €250,000 yet it was purchased for €500,000. That person and their partner have lost their jobs, so they have nothing but they will now have to pay another €500 in property tax. What is the Minister going to say to those people?

I have gone through all the amendments and I notice that the Minister has not tabled a single one. We will not get through all of these amendnemtns, which are well meaning and technically sound. They have been tabled by many Deputies but we will not get through them. The Minister may describe all of this as bombast, but this is the only chance we get to try to represent the people. Does the Minister intend to accept any of these amendments or will we just go back and forth for the remaining two hours or so, before the Government Deputies vote against them? I would like to know if the Minister intends to accept any of these amendments.

I have a final word for the Government Deputies, none of whom is present in the Chamber.

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