Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak. The reason we have a property tax is because the economy has collapsed and we need to broaden our tax base. The problem began in 1977 when, for cheap political reasons, Fianna Fáil abolished rates. Sinn Féin proposes them in the North on a regular basis and is afraid to reduce them.

What Sinn Féin proposes is quite simple. Repealing the property tax and repaying the money, which has been paid by the generous people of this country at a substantial rate, would mean we would automatically, as Deputy McGrath said, need an emergency budget to find an extraordinary amount of money. I listened to the leader of Sinn Féin this morning, Deputy Adams, speaking about cuts to respite care, carers and so on. There would be even more serious cuts in those areas if we paid back the money that has been collected. We need a solid base to have fairness in society.

There has been ongoing reluctance of on the part of Opposition parties to buy into this position. Sinn Féin was initially reluctant to get involved but some of its members suggested they would not pay and provided a lot of misinformation. An extra €7 million in penalties have been paid by the decent people of the country as a result of that cheap political stunt.

The people of Donegal, Deputy Doherty's area, have paid €337,000 in penalties so far. The people in Meath, Deputy Tóibín's county, have paid €236,000 in penalties so far. The people in my county have paid €100,000 as a result of Sinn Féin's misinformation. That is the result of the cheap political stunt Sinn Féin has proposed time and again.

Yet again, its hypocrisy knows no bounds. It is not afraid to go up to the North and propose rates of up to £1,500 on average per house. The tax in the South is a fraction of that. All we have are cheap political stunts.

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