Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

We are getting there. Perhaps I am a bad teacher.

If we are going to charge people an additional fee for paying the fee in a post office or local authority we should make it easy for them to pay. There should not be a surcharge. We should incentivise prompt payment upfront . If a senior citizen wants to pay the €100 fee at the start of the year he or she should not be penalised for doing that. These are small but important points.

We have to broaden the tax base, about that there is no question. We cannot say, "No, this should not happen." Exemptions need to be considered. I ask the Minister of State to indicate whether the Government is willing to expand the exemptions to include senior citizens, people in negative equity, the unemployed, those in mortgage arrears and medical card holders. Things will improve in years to come. Therefore, it is to be hoped fewer exemptions will be given in years to come. As Senator Ó Clochartaigh said, people are down to the bone in terms of what they can pay and €100 is a lot of money to many families.