John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I seek a debate on benchmarking. Senator Norris has raised the issue of upward only rent reviews which has led to the anomaly of high rents, in particular in city areas, which has resulted in many premises remaining vacant. Despite the fact that landlords would have preferred to have tenants in occupation, the law provided for upward rent reviews only. This law has since been amended. Similarly, in regard to benchmarking, we cannot allow a situation where there is an upward review only. Where the State is moving forward in togetherness, that is fine but where there must be retrenchment to ensure all citizens do well, there is a case to be made for a downward review in benchmarking. In that respect, I am conscious that there are people who are availing of tax and pension breaks and various reliefs, even though they are earning significant sums of money and paying no tax. In other words, the State is facing a tax wedge in respect of wealthy individuals. Surely, it is wrong that there is such a wedge in respect of people who are earning large sums of money. They can well afford to do without it in this difficult time. We must ensure we protect those who need protection. There is no point in Members saying - it is wrong to use this expression - the Government is making an attack on children. That is simply not true and it is not anybody's intention to do so.