John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

Senator Doherty has given some very coherent arguments against the amendment and I understand fully the thinking behind it. It is seen to improve the efficiency of the collection system but I assure the Senator that local authorities have assured me very clearly that they wish to collect the rates themselves. As Senator Doherty stated, a centralised collection system in Dublin would not go down especially well in local authority areas. Local authorities have the knowledge and the incentive to collect.

In many ways this is a work in progress, which is also one of the reasons we were prudent enough to give a conservative estimate of the amount of money that could be collected. I recognise the library service has come back on this and this morning Senator Doherty referred to a sum of €97 million. If a comparable sum were involved it would be fine and we would have exceeded our expectations. The Senator will appreciate that, as Minister, if I came to the House and stated that I expected to collect a certain amount, of which we fell short subsequently, the Opposition would have a field day. Therefore, it is better to err on the side of caution in these matters, which we have done. I have no doubt that as the local authorities improve their collection systems and as computerisation systems improve, they will become very efficient in the collection of the €200 charge.

Computer services are improving. This morning I launched a new system of e-planning for Dublin City Council. It is fantastic and it can do everything necessary for that process. One can enter objections with all documentation and all one requires is a credit card to do so. This will significantly cut down costs. In any revenue raising exercise the idea is to make the process efficient, increase competitiveness and cut down on costs and red tape. Most individuals are very computer literate now. Everyone logs on to the Ryanair website now to book a flight and there is no problem or difficulty. Likewise they will have no difficulty paying the €200 charge. They may not wish to pay it but the incentive is there for them to do so, of that there is no question.