Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I did not send them to Coventry, although I have been sent there by them on several occasions.

They have received a council tax demand from the local authority. They are resident but they do not own a property, are not UK nationals and do not have independent income. Nevertheless, the council tax demand is £1,300 each for local government services. When one compares and contrasts the local government funding systems in the two neighbouring jurisdictions, one sees that local government in Ireland has been a poor relation, both in funding and compared to other local government systems. On that basis, there should be a more generous welcome for this legislation and fewer demands for the types of qualifications which have been mentioned on certain radio programmes and by Members during the debate to date.

To own one property in Ireland requires a level of wealth, to own two requires a level of wealth to which many in this country cannot aspire. In his opening contribution, the Minister stated that 70% of Irish residences are primary domestic residences. Much of the remaining 30% consists of rental properties which are designed to earn an income for their owners. The number of people who own a second house and use it for a purpose other than income or as a primary domestic residence is small.

I do not accept the qualifications cited regarding people whose work takes them elsewhere and whose families could almost be said to live in two jurisdictions. There is other legislation on joint ownership of the family home and this is adequately covered by the exemptions to couples in divorce and separation agreements, which the Minister mentioned in his opening contribution. This has been thought through. Second Stage debate is an opportunity to seek clarification and to consider suitable amendments. The Minister is in the process of introducing an amendment on mobile homes, which are a different type of second residence. They can be moved and are smaller than other second homes. Even in accepting those arguments, other questions have been unleashed regarding other more fixed holiday-type home arrangements for which special exemptions are already being sought. I am thinking of chalets and the like. Lines must be drawn. A fixed building which is a secondary residence should be covered by the legislation. The charge is set at a very modest level.

The Minister also referred to local government reform and the imminent publication of a White Paper when the Government has considered the report of the Commission on Taxation. There has been speculation about what the commission might recommend regarding wider local government finance. I would not like to see a return to the old system of imposing rates on domestic residences and built property. Rates were a negative tax because they discouraged local economic activity. Householders who improved their homes, putting money into a local economy by employing local people, were penalised for doing so by being given a higher rateable valuation and having to pay more to the local authority. The essence of local government reform lies in site value taxation, which is more constant than property prices. We know how inconstant property prices have been in the past 20 years. When the report of the Commission on Taxation is published, there should be a debate on this issue. To return to what did not work in the past would not be in the interest of the country or of local government.

The Minister also welcomed the bringing forward by one year of the direct election of a mayor of Dublin. This will be one of the most significant reforms in the history of local government. I would like to see this measure followed by the extension of the concept to other metropolitan areas such as Cork, Limerick and Waterford, perhaps in time for the next local elections. As and when the election of the mayor of Dublin is seen to be a success I hope that will happen. To encourage the direct election of mayors to large metropolitan centres and to the dozen or so large towns which have a population of more than 7,500, we should hold local referendums to ask the people in those areas if they want a directly elected mayor or to achieve town council status. These are the ideas which we should discuss when the White Paper on local government is published.

The Minister also detailed the effects of changes in Government spending on local government. Like many Members, I am not aware of the content of the report of an bord snip nua or how it will impact on local government. It is clear that while excellent public services are delivered through our local authorities, the need to examine where money is being used applies as much to local authorities as to any Department or State agency. The straitened circumstances in which the country finds itself afford an opportunity to reform local government in more ways than one. We can consider new structures, new powers for elected members and new offices, such as the elected mayor of Dublin. We must examine how local government services can be introduced most efficiently and local government's ability to do so through independent and separate funding, such as that contained in the Bill. That is why we should welcome the Bill. I fully endorse its being put to the House.