Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Minister is not questioning the validity of the survey carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions, although it sounded remarkably like it. The Minister certainly lives in a vacuum or bubble if he is unaware of the extent to which households are struggling, and the Irish League of Credit Unions is truthfully and accurately reflecting that reality. The Government cannot expect people to spend in the domestic economy if they do not have the money to spend.

I would have appreciated an answer to my question. Perhaps when he takes to his feet for a second time the Minister will do me that courtesy. I want to know where these 1.6 million individuals and their families will find the additional resources to pay the Government's family home tax. I suspect the Minister has not given me a straight answer because he knows full well that those individuals have no prospect whatsoever of finding that additional resource. This will not mean additional savings for those people and their families.

It will mean additional hardship and debt. The Minister rushed through the House the proposal for the family tax which he borrowed from Fianna Fáil. Perhaps those on the Government benches had not thought through fully the implications of that tax. Today's credit union survey asks them to do just that. With €50 per month disposable income, which is €12.50 per week, individuals and their families cannot pay a family home tax. I ask Deputy Brendan Howlin to tell me where those individuals and families identified in the survey will find the €300 to €500 per annum he demands from them.

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