Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In rural areas street lights are not provided and there is a lack of decent roads. Citizens want to be shown what they will receive in return for paying the tax. When the household charge was introduced in November 2011, I informed the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government that it would be courteous and relevant if people were shown what they are going to receive in the context of development, etc. in return for payment.

It is welcome that while the Government is proceeding with the imposition of this tax, it is trying to make it easier for people to pay. In that context, I welcome the involvement of An Post on this occasion. However, people want to know what they will receive in return. Given that they will be paying between a couple of hundred euro and, in some cases, a few thousand, the very least the Government can do is get its pitch together and indicate that the money will be spent on local development, the provision of local services, etc. They do not want to be informed that it will be used to pay for reams of administration. Any business which received an invoice for the amount of money to which I refer would reasonably want to be provided with a schedule of the services or products being provided in return and that should be the position in this instance.

So many opportunities have been lost in the context of the Bill before the House. Given the way it is being driven through, perhaps the position could be examined in the amending legislation which will inevitably follow. Deputy Michael McGrath referred to the exemption relating to pyrite and the fact that various categories of houses would be treated differently. He also referred to the fact that houses in estates affected by pyrite were impossible to sell but that only specific houses in these estates would be exempt. There is an issue in this regard.

As stated, there is a need to clarify the position on properties used by charitable bodies and those bought for or adapted to meet the needs of those with permanent disabilities. I received a couple of such queries and, as always, Revenue was extremely helpful in providing information. We are all aware of individuals of advanced years who have obtained grants in order to adapt their houses. They can no longer use large parts of their homes as a result of infirmity. Will they be exempt from the tax? In certain instances, court awards have had to be made in respect of some of individuals obliged to make substantial alternations to their houses. I welcome that fact. However, I wish to have it clarified whether people whose disabilities are due to age or infirmity will be exempt.

It is incredibly difficult for people to place an actual value on their properties.

For example, a house was sold for €80,000 in an estate in County Mayo through the standard sales procedure of an auctioneer etc. The same type of house four doors from that property was sold in January by a bank for €40,000. How can we value the band for that house when that is happening, and the property register will show that? Are the houses between those two houses worth €40,000 or €80,000?

Regarding the number of distressed sales, another Allsop sale is taking place in the Shelbourne Hotel today; one cannot get near the hotel. Those houses are being sold today but how do the people living in those estates value their houses versus the price that will be paid for them at that sale today? That is the difficulty for people who will try to make an effort to put a value on their houses. There is nothing in the Bill that tells them the Minister appreciates them engaging with this process or that acknowledges that they are willing to put a formal valuation on their houses to comply with the law, and that he will give them a tax credit for what they will pay an auctioneer to do that. Those are practical measures to assist people in this process because property values are all over the place, so to speak, at the moment. The people who genuinely want to engage in this process will find it very difficult to do so because of the lack of support available to them here.

We have dealt with the points on negative equity and the squeezed middle income earners on whom this tax will be imposed. The mortgage arrears crisis is worsening as days pass. There seems to be some movement in recent days in terms of banks beginning to realise the kind of prices they have, but we must consider that 86,000 residential mortgage accounts are in arrears of more than 90 days, which has increased from 81,000 in June 2012. Collectively, those people owe €15 billion to various banks and institutions, and while there is a slight slowdown, that is a huge amount of money, and we will now add another tranche of debt on to what they must pay. They cannot pay their mortgages, yet we will impose a tax on them based on what might have been once an asset, but which is now a millstone around their necks. This tax is very much a millstone tax for many people who are not in a position to pay the mortgage, not because of any lifestyle choice they have made but because they are not in control of what has happened to them in recent years.

Negative equity is a major issue for many people who are living in houses, the mortgages for which are far greater than the value of the houses. We are putting a tax on negative equity through this measure, which will add to people's concerns about the issue.

There is so much to do, and so much that could have been done in this amendment Bill. There is so much the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Noonan, could examine because as this tax rolls out, and as the letters arrive in people's homes, they will get an idea of more problems to come.

As I said at the outset, we are fooling ourselves if we think this is a proper way to deal with legislation, in that the Minister could come back into the House after six weeks with an amendment Bill to a Bill that was rushed through the House in nine hours. Also, we have genuine concerns and issues we are trying to tease out, yet this legislation will be rammed through Committee Stage in this House in 90 minutes next Tuesday. The Minister of State is long enough a Member of the House to know that Committee Stage is where we can tease out these issues and come up with answers. We cannot give answers to the social housing groups, the charitable bodies and the various groups who have concerns around that, and I suspect we may not be able to do so next Tuesday either.

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