Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

The manner in which the Bill has been brought before the House is regrettable, to say the least. It was not published and circulated until last evening, and those in the Opposition benches had to have Committee Stage amendments tabled by 10 a.m. this morning. We found this wholly unacceptable. The timeframe did not give the Opposition parties in the Seanad sufficient time to scrutinise in detail the content of the Bill. I am not sure who is responsible but it was wrong and should not have happened.

This legislation is to impose a household charge of €100 on almost every house in the country, with the few exceptions outlined by the Minister. The Government, and particularly the Labour Party, was very vocal about the problem of imposing a property charge on a private principal property when it was trying to get into power and gain the votes of the people. The Labour Party said it would fight the charge at every corner. However, when it got into power, it turned very quickly to burning any promises it made prior to the election, as we have seen.

We have no doubt that the decision to take the Bill today and delay its publication until yesterday was simply to try to spare the blushes of Government Senators and Deputies, who have been caught once again misleading voters. That the Government, and the Labour Party in particular, could stand over a Bill that offers none of the protections or exemptions that the most vulnerable citizens expect and deserve says a lot about the values that Fine Gael and the Labour Party are bringing to Government.

The Government parties will spend a lot of time saying their hands were tied and that they had no choice but to bring forward the charge because of the EU-IMF funding deal. Ordinary families will not fall for this falsehood. Both Fine Gael and the Labour Party spent the past nine months telling the people that they had influence in Europe and had been successful in renegotiating the terms of the deal. The Government thought it was impossible to renegotiate the funding deal to allow it to launch a raid on pensioners and the pension levy. Why was it not considered important enough to reach agreement on protecting those who cannot afford the household charge? The truth is that the EU-IMF deal only sets out the overall targets. It does not set the specific elements of household charges or other budgetary measures.

This legislation expects people to pay a household charge after they were raided in yesterday's budget announcement. The most vulnerable people were attacked. The Government can hide behind the fact that there were no front line cuts in the weekly payment rates but the budget was much worse than that. A young child or teenager who previously received a domiciliary care allowance of €188 per week will receive €71.30 from January. A disabled person aged between 18 and 22 person will face a cut from €188 to €100 per week. That will impact on families.

Last night, I met in my clinic a family with two disabled people who cannot fend for themselves. Their weekly payments will be reduced by a couple of hundred euro, not to mention the other social welfare cuts they will be forced to bear. They are still being asked to pay the €100 household charge and the septic tank charge. They simply cannot afford to pay these charges.

I appeal to the Minister of State, on the second day of the budget double whammy, to go back to the drawing board on these exemptions because they do not go far enough. The exemption threshold is very narrow. Exemptions will be made for properties that are part of the trading stock of a business, which is fine because rates are already being paid in respect of them, or which are owned by the Government, the HSE or local authorities. Waivers will be offered for those who live in unfinished housing estates or the 18,000 people in receipt of mortgage interest supplement. What about medical card holders or those whose disability allowances were cut in yesterday's announcement? Some of these young people are living with their parents but others are living on their own. What about those who are in mortgage arrears? According to the latest figures, 63,000 mortgages, or 8.1% of the total, were in arrears in September. What about the people who are in negative equity or those who are unemployed and receiving social welfare benefits? I meet on a weekly basis people who do not have the money to put bread on the tables or heat their houses. What about elderly people who are living alone and will have to deal with the cut in the fuel allowance from 32 weeks to 26 weeks? Why are they not exempted under the legislation? The Fianna Fáil Party will seek to amend the legislation to provide exemptions for these groups of people who cannot afford to pay the €100 household charge.

The liability date gives rise to further issues. The charge will apply from 1 January. I can only imagine that the Government parties are endeavouring to pass the Bill through the Seanad this week and the Dáil next week. It is unacceptable that householders will have until 31 March to pay the charge. Why can they not pay it over the full course of the year? If they pay it late, they will have to pay an additional 10% in subsequent months.