David Norris (Independent)

The Minister raised more questions as far as I am concerned. Can she give me an explanation as to why in these circumstances there was such a considerable increase? I cannot think why. It is not as if people who were hard pressed were trying to defraud. It is coming the other way, unless the State was trying to get more money, as the banks did. What was the reason for this statistical spike?

I understand the Minister's difficulty in terms of the calculations because it changes every year for the tax rate. I appreciate that in terms of personnel, time occupied and so on. Computers can usually do these things fairly quickly if they are programmed correctly.

I am absolutely shocked to discover that this does not work both ways. This seriously disadvantages the citizen and is definitely not fair. I will definitely vote against this section on that basis alone. It is wrong because what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

When I challenged the Minister to produce precedent, she produced the tax system where similarly the citizen may be held in a difficult situation because of the limitation. The citizen is again disadvantaged by the State. The same agency is doing it, so it is not really a terribly convincing precedent. I would be much more convinced if the Minister had cited a bank or a building society and perhaps she can, although I rather doubt it.

The Minister is a fair-minded and decent person and I am sure she must at least sub rosa agree with me that there is unfairness if the citizen, who is after all a vulnerable individual, is treated in a less fair manner than the State treats itself.