Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. Táimid anseo inniu le díospóireacht a dhéanamh ar an mBille Airgeadais 2024 agus ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an oifig agus leis an bhfoireann go léir bhí ag obair ar an mBille seo. Is post deacair agus teicniúil é chun é a chur i bhfeidhm. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach freisin go bhfuil scrúdú mar is ceart déanta air. Déantar é seo i gcónaí le hardchaighdeán agus le gairmiúlacht agus táim ag tnúth le bheith ag obair leis an Aire agus leis na hoifigigh ar gach mír den Bhille agus muid ag plé go mion leis an mBille ar leibhéal an Choiste, mar a dhéanaimid gach bliain. The budget announced a couple of weeks ago fell flat. Despite all the Government TDs and the media lecturing the public and telling them how great it was, what an achievement it was and how grateful they should be, people were not buying it because they have been here before. The hear of the millions and billions but they judge every government and budget on the impact it has on their lives. They know it was another budget that failed on housing and health and failed to deal with the big issues that face our society. Now, in its last few days in office, the Government tells us it plans to bring forward new housing targets. This is nothing more than shameless electioneering. The Government's budget shows this for what it is because it did not provide a single cent extra to develop new social and affordable houses above its already failed targets.

The budget shows that the Government plans to do nothing about the crippling cost of childcare next year. Sinn Féin showed the Government how it could deliver childcare at €10 a day, a commitment that Sinn Féin will deliver in its first year in government. That would be a game-changer for families. These are the types of changes people need. Instead, all we saw was more of the same from the two parties that have been in government for too long. The budget, and now the Finance Bill, show that the Government thinks the cost-of-living crisis is over. It is reducing the energy credits that were available to people at a time when the number of households under water on their bills has surged. Almost one in eight people in the State is now behind on their electricity bills and almost one in four is behind on their gas bills. That is the reality. Sinn Féin knows the cost-of-living crisis is not over. We called on the Government not to cut the electricity credit and to deliver a fair tax package and tackle the root causes such as housing and childcare.

In the Finance Bill before us, the Government will enact many parts of its final budget. The Bill confirms the unfairness at the heart of the budget. This is the Government's final budget and it is on course to deliver more of the same. It has the two-tier income tax package we have come to expect. The Government has again chosen to short-change anyone earning the average wage or below. These are the workers who are hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis. Sinn Féin showed the Government how it could deliver a fair tax package for workers. What does that look like? It starts with stating that the average worker will no longer have to pay the universal social charge, USC, ever again. That is Sinn Féin's commitment in government. In the first year, we would exempt from USC €30,000 for all workers and in the second year, we would increase that to €45,000. What has the Government done? Under its income tax package, somebody on an income of €180,000 will benefit three times as much as somebody on €35,000. How is that fair? This Bill increases the ceiling for the 2% rate by €1,622, a standard to account for minimum wage increases. The minimum wage was raised by only 80 cent, which shows a lack of commitment in tackling low pay. Again, the Government is acting like the cost-of-living crisis is over. The workers at the sharpest end of that crisis have been let down again by this Government.

On top of this, the Government has singled out some of the highest earners for additional tax reliefs, including increased tax breaks for landlords. Section 36 of the Bill doubles down on the Government's ridiculous support for landlords at a time when they are charging eye-watering rents. This is because the Government is the party of landlords. Was it not Leo Varadkar who told us not to be giving out about landlords and that we needed to look after them? Fianna Fáil is right there and has their backs. It has increased the rent relief for landlords. Landlords will be given €112,000 of taxpayers' public money this year, despite the fact that all of the evidence and every official in the Minister's Department warned that there is more than enough tax relief already available to landlords and warned against this tax cut. The Department warned the Minister's predecessor that it was wrong to give tax breaks to landlords that ordinary workers cannot get. It was right but the Government ignored it. A former member of the ESRI said it was the most stupid tax relief he had ever seen, and in that area there is stiff competition. He too was absolutely right. Instead of listening to its own officials and experts, Fianna Fáil did what Fianna Fáil does. It has the vultures, the landlords, the developers and the speculators at the heart of its measures.

This Bill is increasing the landlord tax break to €800. That is more than it gives to most workers. I will make this point and I ask the Minister to answer it, please. Why should a nurse pay more tax than a landlord? It is not fair and it should not happen.

There is another hidden sweetener in this Bill for the landlords which is the renters' tax credit. Sinn Féin put that issue on the agenda. We campaigned for that measure over and over again and Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil fought us tooth and nail. They told us it should never happen. They said that if it happened, it would go into the pockets of landlords. Crucially, the Government needed to do two things. It needed to bring forward a tax credit and it needed to ban rent increases. It did one but did not do the other. If it had done both, it would have helped renters. What it did was to simply put that money into the pockets of the landlords. That is what is happening.

Average new rents in Dublin for both new and existing tenancies have increased by €1,100 over the past 12 months. Across the State, the average rent has increased by 8.1% for new tenancies and for existing tenancies the increase is just under 6%. The only way to put a month's rent back into renters' pockets is to put that relief in place but to also ban rent increases. It is not that difficult but the Government is unwilling to do that because the real motivation here is to feather the nest of the landlords, as Sinn Féin has told it for years.

The Minister mentioned mortgage holders. Mortgage holders are another issue we put on the table and on which the Government fought us tooth and nail. Today, the Government doubled down on a measure which has left thousands of mortgage holders out in the cold. Those who have a balance of less than €80,000 are excluded and locked out of the scheme. Many of these individuals have seen their mortgage servicing costs increasing by thousands of euro, yet they are given no support whatsoever. I ask the Minister to look at that unfair scheme.

The Bill also fails to tackle some of the biggest issues we face in the bulk purchasing of homes. Again, this is a measure Sinn Féin put on the agenda. We said it needed to be stopped and tabled amendment after amendment to introduce a stamp duty that would stop the bulk purchasing of homes. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, one after the other, voted against it and said it would not happen. Under public pressure, they gave a semblance of action with stamp duty of 10%. Today, it is doing the same. We tabled an amendment two weeks ago that would have had the effect of banning the bulk purchase of homes by vulture funds. Under the Government's measures, vulture funds can still purchase nine homes in a new estate without paying one penny of tax or facing any penalties whatsoever with regard to additional stamp duty. They can still buy as many apartments as they want under the Government's proposals and will pay no additional stamp duty. Independent analysis shows that only 7% of all of the apartments built last year were sold to individuals or families. This is not about private capital building private homes, in particular apartments. This is about vulture funds swooping up, after the fact, and snapping up homes which should be available to buy.

The Minister is a TD from Dublin. He knows that what is being built in Dublin is apartments and he knows that it is vultures that are purchasing them. Only 7% of these apartments are going onto the market and the Government has no restriction whatever in place on vulture funds using their immense capital to sweep in, to push up prices and purchase homes that should be on the market for others. The Government dragged its feet on this issue over and over again.

Let us look at the detail of this tax measure. The Government says it is going to raise an anticipated €2.9 million in the first year and €11.6 million on a full-year basis. Has the penny not dropped? We do not want the money. What we want is for vulture funds to stop buying up homes which should be available for ordinary people on the market. This measure, if it was at an appropriate scale, would not have vulture funds buying homes. They would not be paying the tax and the revenue would not be coming in. This is an admission from the Government and the Department that this is simply going to continue and that it expects these vultures to continue to pay the liability. That is not what is needed and it shows again, as I said before, whose backs Fianna Fáil have got. It is not just the landlords but the vultures and this section shows that clearly. The Minister can shake his head all he wants. Why are we expecting these funds to pay the tax next year if the purpose of this section is to stop them buying the homes in the first place? The Government should do what we asked it to do. That tax should be applied at a penal rate that ensures no home is bought by a vulture from under the noses of first-time buyers.

I welcome the increased stamp duty on residential properties valued at over €1.5 million but why is this measure not being applied to bulk purchases? The Bill specifies that the higher rate will not be applied where three or more apartments in the same block of apartments are being acquired. We know why.

It is because of the vulture funds. The Government does not want to tax the vultures which are buying apartments from these individuals. These apartments are homes that should be available to workers and families.

The Bill also brings in an amended version of the residential zoned land tax. Sinn Féin raised this issue with the Deputy Paschal Donohoe when he was the Minister for Finance. We told him there was a problem and we put forward amendments when Deputy Michael McGrath was Minister for Finance. They completely ignored the issue and tried to delay. Now the Government has come forward with a proposal that is still flawed. I will deal with this on Committee Stage. I made this point to the Minister's predecessor and told him that what he had planned was not going to work. While this measure goes further than what is planned, it still has weaknesses in it. If, for example, a farmer stops farming, that land should fall under the tax but, under the Minister's proposal, it will not. That would have to wait until the land was rezoned in the next county development plan and only then would it fall under the tax. Again, these are weaknesses in this proposal. How long has the Government had? It has had two years to fix this and it has not been able to do it. I am concerned the Government is creating an exploitable loophole that will allow for the continuation of land hoarding. As we said two years ago, if farmers are farming on the land, they should be automatically exempt for the time they are farming. That should be an immediate exemption to the tax. Farmers should not be collateral damage, as they have been over the last number of years, and they should not be used as a shield for land hoarding.

The Bill also contains amendments to the help-to-buy scheme. The Government is editing the definition of "qualifying residence" to allow the scheme to be used for affordable purchase. If we ever needed evidence of the Government's idea of affordability, this is it. Perhaps the Minister will tell the Dáil what affordable is in his mind. Not one Fianna Fáil member of the Government has ever told this Dáil what they believe affordability is. Does the Minister know why? It is because they are so embarrassed they would take a redner if they had to stand up and say that under their scheme, affordability means a three-bedroom house in Coolock costing €475,000. Is that not a fact? It is no wonder the Government will not say what the price is and has to redefine a qualifying residence to allow for the help-to-buy to purchase these houses that are unaffordable in the first place. Sinn Féin has showed the Government how it can deliver real affordable houses at prices of between €250,000 and €300,000. Obviously, the penny dropped somewhere in the Government that extending the help-to-buy scheme to these so-called affordable houses is an admission that they are not in any way affordable in the first instance. We see that housing was the biggest shortcoming of this budget and again this is reflected in the Finance Bill.

There is another issue where if the Minister had to stand up and state the facts, he would also take a redner. In his budget speech, in the press release on the Finance Bill and in his 25-page contribution, he did not mention this issue. It is the fact that he is handing out gold-plated pensions to the wealthiest in society. Why is he refusing to mention that? I am sure it is because he is embarrassed. How could a Minister for Finance stand up and say that he is introducing in his Finance Bill the biggest tax break we have seen in the history of the State for any single individual, which will have the impact of providing a €320,000 tax cut? The kicker here is that the only people who can benefit from this tax cut under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are those who already have pension pots in excess of €2 million, for example, people working in the public sector earning well above €170,000, the executives in the banks, and the wealthiest in this State. Under this proposal, they will benefit from a €320,000 tax cut? Never in the history of the State has a Minister for Finance introduced an individual tax cut as big as this. It is no wonder the Minister did not mention it in his 25-page, 20-minute contribution, on budget day or in the press release on the Finance Bill. It is something he should be ashamed of and embarrassed about. It shows again that Fianna Fáil's priorities are not only the bankers and developers but also the wealthiest. Most people can only dream of a pension pot of €2 million, never mind what the Minister is planning, namely, pension pots to the tune of €2.8 million supported by ordinary taxpayers. It is shameful.

There is another thing the Minister will not tell us but needs to tell us because every financial measure should be costed. How much will it cost the ordinary taxpayer to bump up these pension pots to the level the Minister is suggesting in section 13 of the Finance Bill? It is disgraceful and we will fight it tooth and nail. It is another example of the priorities of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Members of the public see clearly where the Government's priorities lie. Just as the Government let electricity companies keep record profits that were made without any innovation or competition but because of our broken pricing system for electricity, the Government is also allowing the banks to record massive profits. They made €2 billion in the first six months of this year, yet the Government has not increased the banking levy. Sinn Féin argued clearly that the banking levy should be set at €400 million on banks' profits because these profits are a result of ECB interest rates, which, in the main, are not being passed on to savers. Interest rate reductions have still not been passed on to mortgage holders on fixed and variable rate mortgages. Do we need another example of whose side this Government is on?

We do not talk enough about wealth in Ireland. As a result of this Bill, we will tax it even less. Fewer than 4% of individuals in this State will receive an inheritance greater than €335,000 in their lifetime. What has Fianna Fáil in government done in this regard? It has made sure it has the backs of that 4% by spending €88 million so that people will be able to receive an inheritance above €335,000 and will not pay tax on a certain portion above that amount. I raised with the Minister's predecessor the issue of reform of the personal retirement savings account brought in by the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, in the Finance Act 2022. There was a massive loophole in that legislation. I raised it with him on Committee Stage and he said there was nothing to see here. He was absolutely wrong. I raised it with another former Minister for Finance during debates on Topical Issue matters. He also said there was nothing to see here. When I raised it with the chairperson of the Revenue Commissioners he said there was something to see here and asked me to please not say anything more. The loophole is being closed down but it was identified by Sinn Féin two years ago and the Government continued to allow it to remain. I want to know how much tax has been avoided as a result of that loophole. If the Minister cannot provide that figure now, it should be provided to the committee.

Another issue on which we need greater detail is the participation exemption and how Ireland plans to operate this in the tax and credit system. This is a significant change to our corporation tax. The rationale for shifting from a tax and credit system to a system based on participation exemption needs to be discussed in detail. We need to know how that substantial change to our corporation tax system will play out. The Minister must lay out the logic, benefits and, most importantly, potential risks of that.

I do not have time to go into the supports being offered to the film industry, particularly those for the non-scripted sector which come in at a substantial cost. There are issues around working conditions in the sector and they need to be addressed if the State is to provide this level of support.

The Bill also deals with agriculture and business relief. Some of those moves are welcome because wealthy individuals should not be able to reduce their inheritance tax through planning and buying up agricultural land, which pushes up the price for ordinary farmers.

We will raise concerns on retirement relief and how that will play in the rationale for the changes that are being made. I do not have time to deal with the issues related to auto-enrolment and the gambling Bill and related changes. We will outline on Committee Stage the issues with the Government's plan, especially on auto-enrolment.

I will finish by raising the decision to tax vape fluid. There is no doubt that we need to tackle the growing use of disposable vapes, particularly by young people. However, taxing the liquid for reusable vapes will negatively impact on people using reusable vapes. This is a legitimate issue because these vapes are also an effective nicotine replacement product. I am seriously concerned about this, especially at a time when we know that, according to the latest statistics we have - perhaps the Minister will update the House - 30% of all cigarettes consumed in the State are either duty free, which means they are being bought for €5 or €6 a pack in Manchester or Spain, or they are illegal.

We have a serious issue now that the price point of cigarettes is creating a bigger market for illegal or duty-free cigarettes but now we are taxing the liquid in the vapes, which is the replacement product to get people, rightly, off cigarettes and on to something less harmful.

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