Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to speak on the Finance Bill 2013. As I did this morning on the Order of Business, I object to the time the Bill was introduced tonight. It is disappointing. I recognise the Minister has a heavy schedule, and I understand he wanted to be here, but perhaps we should have moved to London with him for the next three days to debate it there or, more appropriately, we should have moved to debate it in the German parliament because we are being dictated to and our hands are tied with regard to what we can do here. I know the Minister inherited it from the previous Government but he knew what he was getting into. He had the books and made his predictions and promises.

The Government did not have to promise anything, as I have stated many times, as it would have been elected anyway. The Government has the finest mandate any Government ever received and it has thrown it back in the people's faces. It accepted carte blanche diktats from Europe and the European Central Bank. Last week a wonderful deal was announced, but now we do not know whether it is on or off. The Minister's colleague in the European Parliament, Mr. Gay Mitchell, MEP, asked questions yesterday and Mr. Draghi could only say he would have to wait and see later in the year and there may be a court challenge. Some friends we have in Europe, and I have stated this since the previous so-called bailout which the former Minister, Mr. Lenihan, brought home. I described it as a clean-out. We had to put up €17 billion of our own funds. This was an attack on us. I voted in favour of it and I have apologised for this several times because it was the biggest mistake I made. I was told if I did not vote for it we would face the abyss. How much worse could the abyss have been? It could not have been any worse than this. We have absolutely no solidarity from other European parliaments. The Taoiseach continues to be the poster boy of Europe and be patted on the head and thanked, but this is real politics.

I welcome one or two small items in the Finance Bill and the budget. A fuel rebate for road hauliers was introduced in the budget. This is something for which we fought for years and the previous Government failed to introduce it. I welcome this. I also welcome the inclusion of school transport and the bus fleet in an amendment. I will table an amendment on agricultural contractors' diesel because the contractors are being penalised. They have huge credit problems and have suffered from the bad weather of the past 18 months. They are a vital cog in the wheel of delivering a productive agriculture sector. We have had discussions and Government backbenchers have met a group of farm contractors. The Government speaks about Food Harvest 2020 and Ireland's recovery being based on agriculture. Agriculture has a huge role to play and it brought us out of the last two recessions. It will also bring us out of this one and there has been a small pick-up. If we have good weather this year we will have a good season. The agricultural contractors are represented by a professional organisation covering the 32 counties and I plead with the Minister to accept the amendment I will table on agricultural contractors' diesel.

I do not want to come here to knock everything, but I must mention the lack of a fuel rebate and the carbon tax on a simple bag of coal, and the short number of weeks covered by the fuel voucher scheme. The Minister is being lobbied by my former colleague, and former Minister of State, Sean Connick, and the fuel industry. To increase the cost of a bag of coal by €2.50 and the cost of a bale of briquettes by 50 cent is a retrograde step. People buy a bale of briquettes every couple of days because it is all they can afford. The increase in cost is very foolish.

In recent years I have proposed a tax incentive for ordinary homeowners who want to upgrade their houses, such as through retrofitting for green energy and solar panels or upgrading them through extensions. Allowing people to claim a tax deduction on these would kill the black economy and stimulate the economy. It would also support small builders and tradesmen who are on the dole queues. It would provide much needed money for the Exchequer and get rid of the rogues and cowboys in the black economy. I do not know why the Minister does not do this.

For the past four years I have also proposed, to the Minister and his predecessor, an increased tax on alcohol sold in off-licences because drink is too freely available at every street corner, shop, supermarket and filling station. God help anybody suffering from alcohol addiction if they are off it, because drink will be in front of them anywhere they go to buy a loaf of bread or petrol. It is wrong. The supermarket lobby is now stronger than the vintners' lobby, which is a sad day for the country. At present we have a scandal with horsemeat. The large supermarkets are too powerful and are calling the tune. At least €1 billion in revenue could have been taken and it would also have prohibited some younger people from buying alcohol and drinking it in unsupervised places. I have teenagers and I understand the problem. The Minister's family is a bit older but he knows what I am speaking about. The supermarket lobby won the day against the vintners. Every pub pays rates, taxes, wages, bills and VAT. The vast majority involved are genuine businesspeople who uphold the laws on underage drinking, but they are not thanked for this or supported.

In Germany in the early 1930s, before the rise of you know who - I will not mention his name - certain kinds of policies were pursued, and we are going that way here now. Our democracy is being eroded. The Minister got the mandate but he is not responding to it. He has flung it back in people's faces. People voted for him because of what he said he would do, but now he is not doing it.

Ten days ago, special provisions were brought in here. We should have learned from the last time we did it in 2008. Bad law is made in the middle of the night. It is ridiculous to come here at this hour. I was due to speak at 12.40 a.m. on the Finance Bill. We can talk about many Bills and people outside the House are watching us, but this is not the way to do business. I appreciate that the Minister has to go away and I know how hard he is working, but we have to be real. We should show cause to the electorate as well as listening to them, empathising with them and understanding them.

I mentioned what happened in Germany, and some of the measures in the Bill will stoke a fire in ordinary people's lives. We should not be doing that. We have become regressive. On the one hand, we have gone like communists, while on the other hand we have gone so right-wing, we do not know whether we are coming or going. Democracy, however, is the last thing on our minds.

I complimented the Taoiseach on his fulsome apology for what happened several decades ago. The Tánaiste was claiming that Labour had brought about all this change, including NewERA. However, he blackguarded the fund the Oireachtas passed for the children's referendum. The Government literally stole €1.1 million of it. I am not saying that, but five Supreme Court judges said so. We should pay heed to democracy because there is no point in having tokenism. We are supposed to be in a democracy so we should listen to the people.

There is too much interference from Big Brother. The property tax is coming and the Government wants to put the Revenue Commissioners into people's homes. In my home they are there already because I operate the self-assessment system. They can come at any time to check my books, which is fine. I am a self-employed practitioner and Deputy Mathews would know what I am talking about. Others pay by PAYE. There is a buffer, however, and our houses are our castles and are sacrosanct. Why should we expect a house buyer to report on a seller? That is snitching and informing. I support the Garda and wish to banish the word "informer" in fighting crime, but this is getting worse. The Revenue Commissioners have a job to do, but they cannot get powers to enter our bedrooms, kitchens and utility rooms. That is over-regulation with the State becoming too powerful. It will not be accepted.

The Minister is putting capital gains tax up from 30% to 33%, but who is advising him? I pay tribute to the departmental officials - as did Deputy Boyd Barrett - for their work, but who is advising the Minister? It is not any shopkeeper or businessman because nothing is happening. There is no stimulation or spending, so how does the Minister expect to increase capital gains tax to bring in €60 million? It is not going to happen, full stop. The Minister should ask anyone in the high street or back streets. It has not happened and it will not happen.

I supported the previous Minister for the Environment, the former Deputy John Gormley, as well as the former Minister for Finance, the late Brian Lenihan, when they introduced regulations for low emissions cars. They encouraged people to buy new cars and the scheme was supported by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. The motor industry lobbied for it and it was introduced as a fabulous success, but what happened? The current Minister has broken a solemn commitment given by the previous Government that if a person bought a low emissions car, the tax would be low. That argument has been dismissed, however, and it is a total breach of faith with the electorate and the public generally. Where is the contract and bond with, and the respect for, the people? We cannot expect the public to take this seriously. In good faith, thousands bought low emissions cars in return for low car tax, thus stimulating the economy and keeping jobs in the motor industry. Now, however, taxes have increased across the board.

On the night of the budget, I said the Minister would tax shrouds or habits next. He has increased the tax on hearses this time. Nothing is sacred for this Government. I am not being insulting or disparaging to the Minister, but it is old hat from Fine Gael. It is the party of big people and has refused to introduce a wealth tax. It is the party of the landed gentry and is proving that all the time by taxing ordinary people.

The Government has said that if gardaí and other front-line workers do not participate in the Croke Park talks, it will legislate for pay cuts. The Taoiseach has said it. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has also said it. Those are bully-boy tactics, trying to frighten people, which happened in the time of the Blueshirts. Those days are gone, however, and we must have consensus. We must also have honesty, openness and respect in order to bring the people with us. The Minister is not doing that. There are no incentives or any room for people to do anything. Worst of all, we cannot make agreements in one budget and then break faith with them in the following budget. What kind of sour taste does that leave in the mouths of the electorate? It is no wonder we have seen a rise in extreme left-wing parties.

I totally resent what Deputy Adams said earlier, that we should all be breathalysed coming here tonight. It is the second time he has stated that in ten days. If that is the way he behaves up North, that is fine. I do not wish to tell him what he should say up there, but I resent what he said here this morning. I resent many of the cheap, snide remarks of Sinn Féin and their cheap policies. They have answers for everything, but in reality they have answers for nothing because their policies do not stand up in any shape or form.

Several attacks have been made on working people, including those in small businesses, which are on their knees. How does the Minister expect them to pay the property tax or the water tax? People are living on diminished incomes. A friend of mine, who used to work for me 20 years ago and is now a local authority employee, phoned me this evening. He said he had not had a pint since 24 December because he cannot afford it, that he gets up every morning and is glad to have a job to go to, but that it is diminishing and he wonders how he is going to pay the tax. I do not know why the Minister cannot see that by now. This is because of the troika.

The Minister should release ten or 20 officials from his Department and send them to any rural town or village. They would see the closed shops and the lack of investment and spending power by ordinary citizens. They would see the austerity that has come with negative policies. The Minister should go back and tell the troika about it. If Mr. Draghi talks about a challenge in the courts, the Minister should tell him that he will go back to the people, put it to a vote and do the decent thing. We know what the people will say: that we have a democratic country, or are supposed to anyway, which is run autonomously, and that we cannot take any more austerity or put any more penury on our people.

We have seen the flight of the earls, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving. We have suicides and all kinds of trauma visited on us. The Minister knows this better than I do. It is happening in his constituency and in mine. On Saturday evening, I was at the household of a 29 year old who had committed suicide. It was a lovely new house, with a young child and a partner left behind. The anger I felt because of the problems arising from austerity was palpable. People invested in good faith during the boom, although I know some of them were unwise given the amount they had borrowed in mortgages. None the less, these mortgages were shovelled at them by our banks, and by European banks when our banks ran dry.

That is why I am saying that we do not owe the money the Minister has committed to paying over 35 years. The Minister said he bought his house in 1964 or 1965. God rest his good wife with whom he reared his family. He paid off the mortgage and he mentioned that 25 years later it was only a month's wages. I accept that but he had a house at the end of it. Thank God he has a house and a family. What will people have after paying all of this? They will have nothing. The evaporation of tax, hard work and sweat is driving our people to despair. The Minister is killing the entrepreneurial spirit of business people. If we do not have entrepreneurs, we will have nothing.

I was one of those but I am fairly battered at this stage after 32 years in business. We need a fresh start and must educate our young people to have the courage, passion and vision to progress in various capacities in business. They will all leave the land, however, due to the lack of incentives. They need decent chances and breaks. They need to be rewarded for their work and, above all, to be able to employ people and have respect. It has nothing to do with Croke Park, but all small employers have a wonderful relationship with their employees. There is a bond there whereby they work and respect each other. We need that.

On the corporation tax, I differ totally with my colleague, Deputy Boyd Barrett. South Tipperary is one of the capitals of the pharmaceutical industry and we should maintain that. The 12.5% corporation tax must certainly be paid and, if not, it is up to our officials. I would blame Revenue for that.

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