Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The so-called property tax is, in reality, a family home tax. It is an austerity tax. It is a tax against which the socialist left campaigned when it was introduced in the aftermath of the household tax. People Before Profit warned at that time that if it was introduced it would rise and rise and that is precisely what is happening. The Government is proposing to hike up the property tax by approximately €100 for one in three households. That €100 might be small change for Ministers but for many households it is a big increase, especially those on low incomes, those who are retired or the very many who are out of work right now. This will hit those with large mortgages or low incomes hardest as it takes no account of people's ability to pay. Homeowners who lost their jobs due to Covid now face the double-whammy of a pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, cut and a property tax hike together. The Government likes to pretend that the property tax is about funding local services but in reality, local councils did not get an extra penny when the property tax was introduced. The Government gave with one hand, telling them they could have the property tax, and, with the other, cut back the Local Government Fund, leaving councils just as underfunded as ever. In reality, that money went to paying off the bondholders, and let us not forget that we are still paying them. Instead of hiking the property tax and instead of this equality of misery that the Government wants us all to have, we should scrap it and replace it with a genuine property tax, that is, a wealth tax on the assets of the very richest. A 3% wealth tax on the top 1% in this country would raise more than seven times the amount that will be raised by the increased property tax. All their assets should be taxed, including property, but also stocks, shares, yachts, sports cars and everything else. Instead of hitting ordinary people again, it is time we tax the rich.

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