Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They already pay for water, and the public will pay for water, but the motor tax revenue will go to Irish Water as a subvention. That was last week's issue, but I am raising it again today.

All other taxes - I mentioned some of the main ones - are related to levels of business activity. If one's turnover goes up one's VAT goes up, and if one's turnover goes down one's VAT goes down. If a business goes up its excise duties go up, and they go down if the business goes down. If a business is doing well and takes on more employees, it will have bigger PAYE, PRSI and universal social charge bills to pay. If a business is not doing well and has fewer employees, its taxation costs go down. That applies to all taxes - income tax, corporation tax and capital tax - and also to self-assessment, while the other taxes that are collected from businesses, namely VAT, excise duties and payroll taxes, are all related to the level of business activity. However, this is a fixed charge, and it is the only one I can think of, although there might be a few more. The Minister of State might say that motor tax is a fixed charge, but one can change one's car if one wants to pay a lower motor tax rate; one does not have that option if one is trying to run a business. We need an entire root and branch examination of this area.

The Government is setting up Tailte Éireann, the name of the Government body formed by the merger of the Property Registration Authority, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Valuation Office. The extent to which the Government is serious about dealing with that amalgamation of the Valuation Office can be shown by the fact that proposed legislation is on the C list of the legislative programme, which means the heads of the Bill have not yet been agreed. It will not see the light of day in the term of this Government. That is the level of the Government's commitment to streamlining the Valuation Office. If by some mistake that legislation proceeds, the first thing that will happen, as happens in every new State organisation - I might have said this here yesterday - is that the Government will set up a new State board. The Public Appointments Service will be involved and the Minister will appoint the board and an interim chairman. The body will require a new corporate governance procedure and a new chief executive will need to be hired. He will have to hire the people under him and the people under him will spend the next year interviewing people for different positions. Every time a new organisation is set up, there is a corporate governance procedure, new staff take up positions and the former staff who are public servants may not transfer to the new body, in which case they will be redeployed in the public service. That is provided for in the Haddington Road agreement and I am sure it will be provided for in any successor agreement. There is no loss of income or position for anybody in regard to the Valuation Office due to the change in structure, but a further two years will be lost in the process of that change. I do not know how the Minister of State believes that during that period he will get two thirds of the properties in the country valued, when only one third of them could be valued since 2001. It is not credible. This legislation might have some merit, but it is not worth even discussing because the foundation on which it is based has long passed its sell-by date.

I want to pick up a point that the Minister of State mentioned in his speech. It was an effort by him to be helpful. He gave the example of a material change of circumstances and he cited the example of a motorway bypass, with which I would agree. It is common sense. However, he did not address the issue involved. He said the commissioner would have discretion, but he does not have to do it.

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