Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ní bheidh iontas ar bith ar an Aire ná ar an Rialtas go bhfuil Sinn Féin go huile agus go hiomlán in éadan an cháin tithe seo atá á ghearradh ag an Rialtas, cé gur thug sé an gealltanas sa toghchán deireannach nach mbeadh sé ag cur i bhfeidhm an polasaí lochtach a bhí curtha chun tosaigh ag Páirtí Fhianna Fáil nuair a bhí sé san Rialtas.

Taobh istigh de deich lá, beidh litreacha ag dul tríd doirse chuig na céadta míle duine ag iarraidh orthu níos mó airgid a íoc chuig an Stát mar gheall go bhfuil teach acu. Níl dabht ar bith ach go gcuirfidh seo go leor daoine, go háirithe iad sin atá ar an ngannchuid, i gruachás nó a bhfuil fadhb acu le morgáistí nó le bia a chur ar an mbord do páistí ná éadaí a chur ar dhroim mac nó iníon, thar an imeall. Cé go bhfuil an céad reachtaíocht tagtha chun tosaigh ag an Rialtas ó dheireadh na bliana seo caite agus go bhfuil, anois, leasú á chur le sin leis an mBille seo, tá am go fóill ag an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh agus deireadh a chur leis an cháin seo atá á ghearradh ar tithe teallaigh agus polasaí úr a thabhairt isteach lenar féidir linn an t-airgead atá de dhíth a thabhairt isteach. Mar atá molta ag an Freasúra, tá go leor dóigheanna eile inar féidir linn an t-airgead céanna a thabhairt isteach gan an buille trom seo a chur ar ghnáth muintir na tíre.

On Saturday, 8 March 2013, the Revenue Commissioners will deliver to An Post hundreds of thousands of letters to be distributed from the following Monday. Yet another demand for money to pay for the sins of others will be delivered to all eligible and, indeed, some ineligible households across the State from the Government, which is fixated on austerity and the implementation of the failed policies of Fianna Fáil. Only last week, 70,000 home owners heard that AIB is to increase its variable interest rate on mortgages. The demand comes at a time when one in four domestic mortgages is in distress. The last thing 180,000 holders of distressed mortgages need is another letter bearing unsustainable demands. It will be a tipping point for the 1.6 million people the Irish League of Credit Unions showed have only €50 at the end of the month after paying essential bills. If a huge section of society faces this problem, why are we discussing tinkering with the Bill to make it worse in some ways or better in others, when we should really scrap it and find a more progressive way to bring in revenue to reduce our deficit without placing a burden on those who cannot bear it?

How many more people does the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, believe the tax will tip into mortgage arrears? How much more money will it suck out of the real economy? Yesterday, the Minister replied to a parliamentary question of mine to say that the Government had looked at the effect its proposal will have on mortgage arrears. I dispute that assertion. There is no way the Government can decide that it is fair to introduce a tax on people who find it difficult to pay their mortgages, carry out some assessment and go ahead. The Minister knows there are alternatives to this type of family home tax. Sinn Féin has put forward a suite of alternatives. The Department of Finance provided the figures in answer to parliamentary questions on different taxation measures. To be fair, the Department did not cost a wealth tax measure, which would be a properly progressive tax on property and would bring in the same amount of money the Government plans to generate through its family home tax. The difference is that it would not break the backs of working families.

Instead, the Minister plans to get his hands on the disposable income of people who simply do not have it to give. We all know that Fianna Fáil signed up to this tax and that it was part of its 2012 pre-budget submission, its four year plan and negotiations with the troika and that it has no ideological opposition to taxing the family home.

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