Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I will try to confine my contribution to one minute in order to allow Senator Norris into the debate.

I welcome the Minister. I have one concern in regard to this tax and the effort to do something about it. It relates to the respect we want to have for taxes. If we are to have respect for taxes they must be charged in an equitable manner. Nobody ever seems to be in favour of any tax. However, I was in favour of stamp duty compared to the alternative of rates or property tax. Stamp duty is an avoidable tax in that one does not have to pay it unless one buys a house. That is easy to say, because one must buy a house at some point. I can, therefore, understand the removal of tax in respect of first-time buyers. However, if this tax is to be respected, there should have been a limit so that very wealthy people buying a house worth €3 million, €4 million or €5 million would not benefit to the extent that they now will. There may not be very many such buyers and there may not be much of an effect on the Government coffers.