Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think we should adjourn because a very important proposal has been brought to our attention. I think Deputy Donnelly's original questions have not been addressed. We are talking about charges on the Exchequer and charges on the taxpayer. Thanks to modern technology, everybody in the Chamber has checked the CSO website, as has Deputy Brian Stanley who first raised the number of households. It is clear the number was 1.65 million in 2011 and a little more in 2013. It is clear that the conservation grant will cost in the region of €165 million upwards and we are being presented with a figure that does not stack up. We need to look at that again. Deputy Donnelly has correctly asked the cost of administering the actual charges and Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the cost of administering the conservation grant. There are at least three major sets of figures with which the Minister, who is senior Minister for a relatively short time, has not been able to satisfy the House. The majority of Deputies present, including possibly Deputies on the Government side, are not clear. The best alternative, and there is no big deal about it, is to adjourn and come back next week with chapter and verse in terms of the figures. Otherwise we are doing a disservice to the people. We are not giving them the figures. I would say to the Deputy Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, that we may end up with a situation where this new tax is costing the taxpayer and the Exchequer money. It is a ludicrous situation. On the basis that the Minister and his colleagues do not appear to have the figures to hand, we should adjourn at 9 o'clock and come back with a full set of figures in order that we can have a proper debate.

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