Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The so-called property tax is, in reality, a family home tax. It is an austerity tax. It is a tax against which the socialist left campaigned when it was introduced in the aftermath of the household tax. People Before Profit warned at that time that if it was introduced it would rise and rise and that is precisely what is happening. The Government is proposing to hike up the property tax by approximately €100 for one in three households. That €100 might be small change for Ministers but for many households it is a big increase, especially those on low incomes, those who are retired or the very many who are out of work right now. This will hit those with large mortgages or low incomes hardest as it takes no account of people's ability to pay. Homeowners who lost their jobs due to Covid now face the double-whammy of a pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, cut and a property tax hike together. The Government likes to pretend that the property tax is about funding local services but in reality, local councils did not get an extra penny when the property tax was introduced. The Government gave with one hand, telling them they could have the property tax, and, with the other, cut back the Local Government Fund, leaving councils just as underfunded as ever. In reality, that money went to paying off the bondholders, and let us not forget that we are still paying them. Instead of hiking the property tax and instead of this equality of misery that the Government wants us all to have, we should scrap it and replace it with a genuine property tax, that is, a wealth tax on the assets of the very richest. A 3% wealth tax on the top 1% in this country would raise more than seven times the amount that will be raised by the increased property tax. All their assets should be taxed, including property, but also stocks, shares, yachts, sports cars and everything else. Instead of hitting ordinary people again, it is time we tax the rich.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The property tax, so-called, is a fundamentally unjust tax because it takes no account whatsoever of the homeowner's income or ability to pay. It becomes even more unfair in the context of the disastrous failure of this Government to control a fundamentally dysfunctional housing market. Property prices have gone off the Richter scale. In areas like my own, as well as much of Dublin and many other urban centres, the value of property has gone through the roof and that will impact the rate of property tax people have to pay. Of course, that bears no relationship to the income of the person in the house. As nobody can afford these property prices, the people who happen to live in areas where prices are extremely high and have gone out of control will be punished just for living in those particular areas. In the long term this tax, as well as many other things like the failure to build social housing in these areas, will lead to a social cleansing of many of them. People on lower incomes simply will not be able to live in certain places. The property tax punishes them for the fact they happen to live in a particular place.

It is noteworthy it is not only the socialist left. We have been saying this for a long time and, indeed, actively campaigned against the introduction of this tax. I note Dr. Lorcan Sirr, on "Morning Ireland" this morning, when asked directly is it a fair tax and is it a regressive tax, said that it is not a fair tax and it is a regressive tax. The Government should accept that. In the aftermath of Covid, in particular, it should not be loading it on people. The Government should abolish this tax and introduce a proper wealth tax.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to bring forward legislation in relation to the local property tax on the basis of fairness and that most homeowners will not face an increase in their local property tax liability. In addition, there is a commitment to bring new homes, which are currently exempt from local property tax, into the taxation system.

Accordingly, yesterday the Government gave its approval for the general scheme of the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Bill 2021. This Bill will now be drafted to give effect to a package of measures addressing the programme commitments and related matters.

Perhaps the most significant proposal is a revised method for calculating local property tax, LPT, liabilities. The new approach maintains the number of bands at 20. Band 1 is expanded from €1 to €200,000 and band 2 contains values in the range of €200,000 to €262,500. The LPT charge is fixed at the current charge for bands 1 and 2, which is €90 and €225, respectively.

A 75% increase is applied to all thresholds which is broadly consistent with the 74% increase observed in property prices up to 2020 and a forecast 2% increase for this year. In addition to this, a lower rate of 0.1029% is applied and the existing charging structure is maintained.

There is currently a higher rate for properties valued above €1 million with the first €1 million charged at 0.18% and everything above at a higher rate of 0.25%. Properties are charged on the self-assessed value at individual property level.

Under the proposed methodology, it was likely that owners of higher value properties could benefit from reductions in LPT liabilities due to the widening of the bands and the reduced rate. To address this, we propose that a higher rate should be applied to properties above €1.05 million by charging a higher mid-point rate on bands above that level and a third rate be applied to properties above €1.75 million. Properties in bands 12 to 17, inclusive, between €1.05 million and €1.75 million, will be charged a mid-point rate made up of 0.1029% on the first €1 million and 0.25% on the balance, and properties in band 20 will be charged on individual property prices up to 0.3%.

Residential properties built after the current valuation date or 1 May 2013 remain outside the charge to LPT. These properties will now become liable at the next valuation date of 1 November. Previously exempt properties purchased during 2013 and trading stock of builders and developers unsold on 1 May 2013 or sold in the period 1 January 2013 to 31 October 2021, inclusive, will now be brought into the charge.

The general scheme also provides that all new residential properties built between valuation dates will be retrospectively valued as if they had existed on the preceding valuation date. New properties becoming liable for the LPT charge at the next liability date, that is, the following 1 November, will be valued at the previous valuation date and the Revenue will provide assistance to property owners to determine this value. This will maximise the local property tax base and ensure equity.

The measures proposed for this Bill fulfil the programme for Government commitments in this area and secure the future of the local property tax.

The Government has decided to cut both the rate of the tax and widen the bands to make charges affordable. This means that the majority of homeowners are likely to see either a decrease or no change. Where increases occur, the majority will be a single band of €90 notwithstanding the significant increases we have seen in property values since 2013.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Yesterday, the Taoiseach said that what we were experiencing was the opposite of austerity. It is a bit hard to accept. There are many similarities now to what was done in 2008 when the Government responded to the crash by bailing out the banks and making ordinary workers foot the bill through cuts to public services and taxes such as this. The result was a lost decade, untold suffering for many and massive profiteering by a tiny few. Now we have the funnelling of huge amounts of money to big business with no strings attached and at the same time the hiking up of property tax for workers, cutting back on pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, supports for those who have lost their jobs, and letting landlords impose double rent hikes to drive up their profits.

We must not go back to austerity. We cannot go back to bailing out the rich. Instead, it is time that we imposed a Covid wealth tax on those who have profited from the crisis, such as Mr. Denis O'Brien whose wealth increased by €4 million every day in the pandemic. Tax the billionaires, tax the big businesses and invest in an eco-socialist green new deal.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The property tax is not only an unfair tax; it is an utterly pointless tax. When the Fine Gael-led Government introduced it, the justification for it was that it would dampen the property market and fund local services. Now we see the reality - not a single extra cent for local government. With the removal of the equalisation fund, we will deepen the gap in the ability of local authorities to fund services depending on where they happen to be. Of course, it has done nothing to dampen the market, which has gone completely out of control. Therefore, there is no point to this tax and it is an unfair tax.

The alternative is, as Deputy Paul Murphy said, a wealth tax on billionaires. Here is another suggestion. Put a tax not on the family home but on multiple property owners. One could raise just as much money and it would be a far fairer and less regressive tax.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Boyd Barrett responds to what I said. Deputy Paul Murphy comes in here and reads out a script that was written a decade ago. Look at what the Government announced yesterday - €4 billion worth of investment in the future - on top of last year's budget which led to record levels of investment in our future. Look at the employment wage subsidy scheme where the State is standing absolutely behind Irish workers and full-square behind Irish employers to maintain jobs and maintain income at exactly the time at which that help is needed most.

The two political parties represented by the two Deputies today are in favour of tackling the climate crisis but they are against any changes in carbon pricing. They want higher spending and higher investment in housing but they are against any changes in the local property tax. The kind of politics we are seeing here this morning that I expect to see more of in the coming weeks, months and years is for nothing. It is against everything.

The measure that the Government is bringing forward is looking to broaden the local property tax base so that all homes are taxed fairly. We are making changes in relation to the way in which the bands are structured and the rate is delivered to do all we can to ensure that the bill that will be presented to homeowners across January and February next year is as fair and affordable as possible.

I am aware of all the challenges homeowners and citizens face at present but that is why we brought in all the measures that we announced yesterday to help guide our country through this crisis. I am certain if I was to bring in some of the measures the Deputies are looking for and have just called for, they would find some reasons for opposing them as well.