Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)

I thank the Minister for being helpful. I assure him that there was absolutely nothing in his tone that caused any offence whatsoever. I am very grateful for the clarification. I am also grateful to the Minister for being very helpful in making my case for me in his response. The exact point that he has made is that there is less volatility in taxation on fixed property than in other forms of taxation or income streams. While there could be some volatility with regard to changes or multiple ownerships, the Minister is absolutely correct when he says there is much less volatility in income streams and revenues that arise from property. That makes the case for my amendment even stronger. This should be considered because the Minister is right. Regardless of how they are constructed, there is far less volatility in property taxes than in other forms of taxation. The amount of property in the country is increasing all the time. We are building more homes and more properties and the population is increasing. The Minister is right that there is not the same sort of volatility you could have with corporation tax, VAT and most other forms of taxation. I thank the Minister because he has made my case stronger. I will press the amendment because we do need a report on this.

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