Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This tax is lifted straight out of Fianna Fáil's four-year plan. It is the latest blow that this Government has delivered to hard-pressed families. One in four mortgage holders are in distress, yet he asks the same families to pay this unfair tax. It takes no account of ability to pay, negative equity, mortgages in arrears, or indeed the thousands of euro that many have already paid in stamp duty.

Last week we learnt that homes in ghost estates will also be levied with this tax. Only 5,100 houses will be exempt, compared with the 43,000 which were exempted from the household charge. It was a "stupid decision", "ham-fisted", "unfair", a "complete mess". These are not my words but those of some of the Taoiseach's Labour Party colleagues in government.

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