Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A house is an expensive thing to run and if it was worth nothing, I would be meeting them on the road every day and they would be saying "I have a house for you Michael, here it is for you, it is only costing me money". We should not exaggerate the position. Everything has value and all we are asking is that people put a value on it. Obviously, if a residence is seriously impaired by the activity of the householder, whether that be farming, business or anything else, which reduces the value, that will be reflected in the self-assessment. It is up to people to decide what value to attribute to the house and they will get guidance from the Revenue Commissioners.

Deputy Seamus Healy made a general speech and made a lot of good points. He challenged the constitutionality of the legislation. It is generally known by Deputies that no Minister can introduce legislation unless he receives a stamped copy from the Attorney General. The stamp means that in the opinion of the AG, the Bill is constitutional. If anybody wants to challenge the constitutionality, that is what the courts are for but the Attorney General has evaluated this and has said it is constitutional and I have no doubt whatsoever but that it is so. Deputy Healy did not express the reasons why he thought it might be unconstitutional.

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