Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The tax on concrete products proposed in the budget has created a major problem in the concrete production industry in Kerry and throughout the country. This includes the export industry for concrete products. If the Government is doing a U-turn in the finance Bill, there should be a full and open debate in the Dáil this week to clarify and rectify the harm it has done to this hardworking sector. Young couples going about building their homes were hurt and horrified when they heard that the Government wanted to increase the costs of the concrete products for their homes. Local authorities were left reeling as there was and is great uncertainty about what the Government is actually going to do. I ask that the Government scrap its concrete tax proposal, and not just fiddle with it in the finance Bill, in order to give certainty to this hardworking sector and to the people affected by its proposal in the budget. These are people who want to build their homes.

See this speech in context