Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

This measure to remove the entitlement of a medical card to all those over the age of 70 might turn out to be the Government's footwear and clothing measure. It will hang around the Government's neck politically and even though a case can be made on pure equality grounds, it will cause administrative chaos and genuine worry and fear among people. We could speak for much longer on this measure.

Another budgetary measure is the residential property tax. I am sure it has a nicer title than that. I refer to the €200 fee that will levied on the owners of second houses. Again one could have a philosophical reason for supporting such a measure. However, if we want to be real about local government and local taxation, let us be real. Let us produce the work required to look at how local government will be funded into the future, whether there will be need for local taxes, and if so, how this may be balanced against lesser taxes at national level. We all know that the €200 on the so-called second residence will become €250 next year, €300 the year after and again I am not sure as regards the cost of administration. Will it be worth the effort?

The VAT increase appears to be modest, at 0.5%. However, if we are trying to keep costs down as well as inflation and assist job creation, the VAT increases are quite aggressive. As regards the change in capital gains tax, the Minister of State would have been involved in the administrative rather than the political side of the Government in 1997——-