Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I re-emphasise Fine Gael's concerns. The Minister has confirmed he cannot give an undertaking that local authorities can take on additional staff to deal with this extra workload despite the burden it will create. The Bill states that the Department estimates that in excess of €40 million can be raised through this local authority charging system. However, the Oireachtas Library and Research Service produced a very interesting digest on this Bill, which is very helpful to Members, and according to its calculations the system could raise in excess of €97 million. There is a difference between the two figures.

We are concerned this issue has not been analysed thoroughly enough to identify that local authorities have the capacity to deal with this workload, which is the focus of the amendments. I have outlined the problems in the other areas where the Minister is hoping to get information and data. We heard evidence from the PRTB in committee yesterday that until mid-2010 at the earliest it will not have a suitable ICT system which would allow it to have a proper, managed registration system that can transfer information to local authorities and others. I keep emphasising this point because I can foresee problems if this Bill is implemented as proposed. We feel the Revenue Commissioners have the better capacity, systems and resources to deal with this. While I would rather see local authorities collect the charge, I am not convinced they have the capacity to do so. For that reason, we stand by our amendments.