Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has said that the square footage rate is indicative. Equally, deep down Deputy Mac Lochlainn knows that the larger the house, the bigger the economies of scale. This is factored in. We do not want a scheme that will disadvantage smaller houses. If the Deputy looks at the local property tax and Central Statistics Office data, he will find houses in and around the €200,000-€250,000 range. We will not have homeowners forking out €40,000. We have no interest in having a situation like that for the average homeowner. It is wrong to create the fear and feigned anger and so on that I witnessed this morning.

See this speech in context