Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I will speak again on behalf of the hard-pressed homeowners of this country, especially those in rural Ireland and in my constituency of Tipperary, from Tipperary town down to Cahir, Clonmel, Cashel and Carrick-on-Suir as well as the villages and rural houses. These people continue to be squeezed by this unjust and unnecessary local property tax. The Bill proposes to increase charges on the vast majority of households despite the cost-of-living crisis. We have also been told there will be no more cost-of-living supports despite food prices, food inflation and everything else rising continuously - we do not see any respite from that - and despite the rising mortgage rates and countless families already struggling to keep their lights on.

I welcome some aspects of the legislation but I do not welcome that we can give our local councillors the latitude to increase the rate of local property tax by 25% instead of 15%. What will happen? Management will push for an increase of 25%, and more if they can get it, because councils have been cash-starved by central government for quite a while. I used to go around boasting that in the 1977 general election, as a young buachaill óg and member of Fianna Fáil, I campaigned for rates to be taken away. Since then, the county councils have been starved. In hindsight, it was a bad decision, but you learn from your mistakes and when you are in a party, you must do what you are told to do. I ask the Minister to re-examine this because it is not fair.

There are charges, despite rising mortgage costs and everything else. There are some areas where payment can be delayed and in some cases, it can be postponed. I have a few of those cases on my hands now. The parents are deceased and the bills had accrued on the properties before they passed on. The local property tax punishes people simply for working hard and putting a roof over their heads. It is blind to the realities in places like Tipperary town, Cahir, Cashel, Carrick-on-Suir and all the other towns where housing values have increased continuously and very few services are being provided in return. In fact, no services are being provided. We saw this last January when the snow fell. Not even an egg cup of salt was to be got for households. What do they get for the local property tax? All the local authorities now have a skeleton staff. I praise the staff who are there but there are not enough of them. There is no shortage of people ag obair inside in the offices, but there is only a skeleton staff on the ground. There was a time when people got these services and were looked after to the best abilities of the local authorities. People are not getting anything in return now. I know that in this debate people in Dublin will say they are being punished, but they have every service you could ever think of, from street lights and street sweeping to public transport, you name it. In the country, people are on their own in the sticks.

I have long opposed the LPT in principle. I said it in 2013 and I say again today that a family home is not a taxable asset but a necessity. We know how many people do not have homes and we should support them in any way we can to get them. This tax hits the elderly, those on low incomes and those who worked hard all their lives to buy a modest home. Now, with inflation still biting, the Government is quietly ratcheting up the burden again.

As I said, the councils will be told by the management that there are local services involved and carrots will be dangled. I agree that some of the money goes into vital services in rural areas and villages, such as in different enhancement schemes and everything else, and that local councillors have some discretion.

It is the basis of the thinking behind this tax. Anyone who works hard to put a roof over their head should be supported. We will have a debate tonight and tomorrow about landlords, tenants and everything else. There are good and bad tenants. There are other issues. People put their hands in their pockets to put a roof over their heads or to try to maintain their houses. There is upkeep and maintenance to do. In view of the harder winters and everything else, it takes a lot of work to keep houses intact.

I was at a meeting recently with the management of Tipperary County Council. I was shocked to hear that the council must find €15 million before 2030 to refurbish and bring its buildings up to the new standards relating to the so-called carbon tax. Some of them are modern buildings, mind. The council must then spend €10 million or €11 million on a fleet. I questioned the necessity of a fleet. Management said that one diesel lorry must be replaced with double the number to take account of after-hours work, longer working days and everything else. That is nonsense. When I asked where this money was going to come from, there was silence. When I asked again, I was told that because there is no Government funding for this, the council is going to raise the money from two areas, namely rates and property tax. All this money is going to be invested in fanciful projects.

We have fine buildings in Nenagh and Clonmel. We constructed a building in Cashel and then closed it. It has been abandoned. Tipperary town has all new offices as well. We will now have to spend scarce money on bringing those up to standard. Any time I was inside those buildings, I had to take my jacket off because of the heat. While they say they are trying to bring these buildings up to standard in the context of future-proofing and whatever else, we are going to penalise ordinary citizens who cannot get SEAI grants and who have no money to put up. There is a two-year waiting list, or maybe it is longer than that. I call on the Minister and the Government to do something in that regard, because I will not be supporting this Bill. I cannot support it. I spoke against this measure in 2013. It would be hypocritical of me to support it now. Despite that, I welcome the fact that mica issues will be given some kind of consideration, although mica is an issue that is growing exponentially. We will have more areas with mica. It is ill-judged and ill-timed to try to force people to pay this tax, especially as we are entering such an uncertain period and when the cost of living is so high.

All the people we are talking about have their own houses. They pay everything and never shirk their responsibilities. They pay their mortgages. They pay repair men and maintenance men and for their houses to be painted. They pay for everything, you name it. They do not get any supports. This is an unjust and unfair tax. It should be shelved.

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