Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I too strongly oppose the guillotine on this debate. We must look at the state of the country and see it for what it is. For decades, the policy of successive Governments has been to encourage people to get on the mortgage ladder. In 1989, I was renting a two-bedroomed house in Kilmainham at a cost of approximately £980 a month. An opportunity then arose to buy a house in Inchicore for £31,000, with a mortgage cost of £1,100 per month. When mortgage interest relief was applied to that, the cost reduced, making it worth a person's while to consider buying a home. Not only did Governments in those decades introduce tax relief incentives, in the 1990s they also introduced tax reliefs for buying properties in the city or apartments, all in an effort to encourage people to buy their own homes and buy into property. They did this rather than encourage a strong and healthy rental system where tenants and landlords would have rights and proper accommodation would be provided.

We are all aware of the horrible state of some private rental stock in this city, but we now see a change with local authority inspections. We have seen apartments on the South Circular Road and elsewhere which were in a terrible state, dreary bed-sits full of mould, terrible toilets and net curtains that were falling apart. This was the type of choice available for years in the city. This was an incentive for people to get their own homes and that was actively encouraged by Governments.

We also had a situation where Government policy in the 1970s and 1980s actively encouraged people who were renting local authority housing to buy their homes. When they bought those homes, these people expected they would be able to continue working and paying their mortgage and that when they reached retirement they would know what pension they would have and would be able to live on those means. However, now the Minister is slapping a property tax on those people. He is slapping a home tax on them and ignoring their expectations. The Government reminds us often enough that high earners on super pensions have expected earnings. We had an expectancy that we would be able to retire and have the comfort of our own homes. We had worked out what money we would have. Working class and ordinary people are very careful about managing their finances for their later years. However, now they have been told they will have to pay a home tax of up to €400 per year.

On top of the home tax, they will have to pay a water tax year and probably a broadcasting tax the following year. We are talking about an extra €600 to €800 per year for people in average homes. These are people who can barely get along. Many of them are elderly people who are keeping their children going. They are paying for their children's school books, clothing and food because of the effects of the austerity carried over by the Government from the previous Government. It is the Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Lanigan's Ball, politics of "you step in again, I step out again". We have different parties, but the same policy of continuing the austerity and continuing to hit on people who can ill afford these attacks. Please give people some relief. People say to me they need some sort of leniency along the line to see if they can find their way out of the situation they are in, but the Government does not seem to see the need for that.

Young couples who bought their houses during the boom paid huge stamp duty. As I said earlier, I got a mortgage of £31,000 - I cannot say I bought my home because the mortgage is not paid yet - on my house in Inchicore. Recently, in the madness of the Celtic tiger boom, my house would have sold for €500,000, though not worth that. Ordinary people with young families who wanted to get onto the property ladder, encouraged by successive Governments, would have paid massive stamp duty to buy a house at that price. Now they are being asked to pay this property tax.

I met a girl who went to the bank for a loan for a car four years ago and came out with a mortgage for an apartment. That is the way the market was driven. Once somebody went looking for a loan, one was encouraged to get onto the property ladder. They were told this was their opportunity to get an apartment. The girl I met is now living at home with her parents and renting out her apartment because she cannot afford to pay the mortgage. That is the madness of our situation. Yet, the Minister says these people must pay a property or family home tax.

This tax is to be applied right across the board, with just a few exceptions that will only have a minimal impact and will not help the people who need it. One out of every four mortgaged homes are in distress, with mortgages unpaid for over 90 days. Many people are on interest-only repayments and are in debt to their homes. However, these people are being told they must pay this family home tax. The Minister must meet people every day of the week who are in this situation, who cannot see their way to paying this family home tax. This Government and the previous Government have taken €27 billion out of the economy. They now plan to take €1 billion from the pockets of public sector workers by railroading them into accepting the proposed cuts. Some 8% of a cut will affect those on incomes under €65,000, but only 7.9% for those earning over €150,000. Where is the fairness in that? These proposals are absolute madness. The Government's cuts affect the same people all the time and it is taking another €1 billion out of the economy.

Looking at the figures on sales taxes, over one third of the price of a bottle of wine goes straight to the taxman. Perhaps the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, is doing the taxpayers a favour buying €79,000 worth of bottles of wine. Some of that is going back to taxpayers. Latest retail sales figures reveal that there was yet another decline in consumer spending in January. People face fierce taxes in the context of spending and this makes austerity even harder for them. The Minister should review what he is doing. It is lunacy and will stress people out.

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