Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

The Government wishes us to believe that everything is perfect but this is not the case, as was indicated recently in the Meath and Kildare North by-elections. The people are not happy. I canvassed in Kildare North, which is a snapshot of what we will all face in our own constituencies soon. Nearly all constituencies have large urban areas and many displaced people. For example, there are many people from Dublin now living in Carlow who are forced to travel long distances every day to leave their children in crèches. I encountered one case where the parents leave Carlow for Dublin with their children at 6.30 a.m., drop the children off there at their grandparents' and pick them up in the evening. As legislators, we must ask whether this is the quality of life people must put up with. I do not think it is. This Government is accountable for this debacle, a message it received loud and clear in the recent by-elections while its members were canvassing.

More than half of all taxpayers will pay the top rate of tax next year and the removal of the minimum wage earners from the tax net will be reversed when the hourly rate increases in the following year. It is the bottom line that taxpayers are caught no matter what they do. It is a crazy scenario that the top income earners in the country do not pay any tax and avail themselves of the tax incentive schemes. This leads to great inequality.

Tax reliefs were introduced by the Fine Gael-led Government in the 1980s. The idea was to encourage the development or redevelopment of areas but the mistake we made was keeping the reliefs for too long. Some of the tax reliefs have been abused as a result. I do not doubt that many of the tax reliefs have stimulated growth in locations and benefited towns and rural areas. However, when I visited Ballina on Sunday, 20 March 2005 I was struck by the difference in the level of development in towns and villages in that area in comparison with the south east, for example. The west requires incentives to get going, as many of its areas have not changed in 20 years compared with booming towns such as Carlow, thanks to tax relief.

Unfortunately, some of the developments that began under these tax relief schemes will cause major problems in the future, particularly monstrosities of apartment blocks and section 50s that will allow people with seven or eight properties to evade taxes. While the reliefs were good to begin with, they were not monitored effectively and will possibly create a monster that we may yet regret. It is important to point out that the economy was performing very poorly when Fine Gael introduced these reliefs in the 1980s.

Senator Kenneally is correct in stating the arrival of the euro has opened our eyes. It is easy to carry out a direct comparison when we go abroad, especially in the European Union. The price of eating in a restaurant abroad cannot be compared with the price of eating in a restaurant in Ireland. The same is the case for shopping. People are now beginning to realise that there is a certain amount of rip-off in society. Fine Gael launched its campaign with www.ripoff.ie which has been tremendously successful and has received thousands of Internet hits. This is proof that the public feels it is being ripped off and is not getting value for money. Apart from most people paying the top rate of tax on their salaries, 45% of the price of a basic commodity such as a home is tax. People are lumbered with paying their mortgages for 30 or 40 years. The reality is that only when they reach their 60s or 70s do they have enough money.

A friend of mine who visited the United Arab Emirates recently told me she could buy a top of the range Ford Mondeo for €7,500 there. I am not sure what the price in Ireland is but I suspect it would be approximately €25,000. We are being crippled no matter where we turn. There are high VAT levels, high taxes, numerous indirect taxes and being a motorist is practically a crime because one is hit——