Seanad debates

Wednesday, 29 November 2006

6:00 pm

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)

There has been a huge increase in fares on buses, trains and the DART in recent years.

These are only half the number of stealth taxes that have been increased in the past three or four years. The Government speaks about increasing wages and reducing tax but one would need the resources of the Bank of Ireland to live nowadays, as a result of the taxes that have been imposed.

This is a reasonable motion from Senator Phelan. I am disappointed the Government has put down an amendment. In fact, it is not an amendment because it has nothing to do with the motion. The proposal in the motion would do a great deal for hard pressed young first-time buyers. I hope the Minister will reconsider the position.

There appears to be a rift between the Government parties on the stamp duty issue, with the Fianna Fáil Party going in one direction and the Progressive Democrats in another. However, it is not unusual for the Tánaiste, Deputy Michael McDowell, to make wild statements. When he was an Opposition Member in the early 1990s he stated with regard to the former Minister for Justice, former Deputy Nora Owen, that if he were Minister for Justice he would get rid of the drugs from Mountjoy Prison within six weeks. After five years as Attorney General and almost five years as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, there are now as many drugs, if not more, in Mountjoy Prison as there were ten or 12 years ago. One must take the comments of the Minister, Deputy McDowell, with a pinch of salt. I am sure the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, said as much when he rebuffed the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform with regard to the €2 billion that is badly needed for the economy.

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