Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While the Government parties may congratulate themselves on the numbers who have paid the property tax or household tax, to date, they must also surely be concerned at the remaining high number of people who have not paid the tax. Despite the fact the State has the power to deduct the money from people's bank accounts, wages and other payments, over 10% of householders have still not filed their payment. This indicates that a significant number of people are making a political and, indeed, a moral statement. They are saying to this Government, "You may take this money but you are taking it without my consent." That might appear to be a pointless exercise, and one that will incur further loss, but it is a position deserving of respect. The fact that tens of thousands have refused is their way of saying, as citizens, that they object, just as the majority of people objected to the household charge, which had to be abandoned in the face of mass refusal to pay.

The Government should not delude itself into believing that the majority consented to this. Nor is opposition solely based on people's concerns over having to pay out more money. That is not even a factor among those who have refused to pay as they know it will be taken from them anyway, and perhaps with penalties imposed on top. The vast majority of people do not mind paying tax when they can see that the entire tax is going towards the upkeep of public services and provisions. They do object when they can see that increased demands on their income are accompanied by an actual decline in those services and provisions because they are also the target of the Government's austerity policy.

The claim that increasing the amount of money accruing to the State is all to ensure the upkeep of State services rings hollow in the present circumstances. We have all seen that the consistent direction of this Government has been to make cuts across all areas of public provision. There is hardly a household in the State which has not felt the impact of that, along with the overall economic downturn and exacerbated by austerity. On every Dáil sitting day, there are groups outside drawing attention to the manner in which a vast range of necessary provisions have been undermined. In our constituency offices and on the telephones here, we are daily hearing about the often severe impact which cuts in payments and services across the board are having on people. On top of that, the impact of large scale unemployment has been made worse by sucking billions out of the economy and thereby undermining jobs.

It is in those circumstances that the Government's introduction of this latest assault on household income is regarded. It is deeply resented because people realise that the money collected will not actually contribute to any improvement in the provision of services.

This Bill is our way of saying that the property tax is wrong and is part of an overall assault on Irish society that has been in train since the disastrous decision was made to put the interests of failed gamblers above those of citizens of this State.

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