David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I understand the necessity for gathering taxes. I assume that this tax goes to directly to local authorities to discharge their functions. I agree with the comments of some of my colleagues and they have made sensible points. I would have made them myself.

One tends to be happier if one is charged for a specific service. I have never had any problem with bin taxes. In my area I buy labels to put on the bins. We do not get a particularly good service and the fact it has been privatised means three or four different companies collect different rubbish. People become confused and the system is grossly inefficient. I do not like this kind of privatisation but at least there is a service. I have no difficulty with water charges.

This charge seems to be a method of raising revenue for local authorities, with which I do not have a huge problem. It is relatively easy to introduce these measures but virtually impossible to reverse them. That was found, with disastrous results, when the then Government decided to freeze rents during the First World War in the city of Dublin in order to reassure men who were at the front that their families would not be placed in financial difficulty while they were away fighting. Naturally enough it was a popular measure and proved completely impossible to reverse politically until legal action was taken some years ago and it was found to be unconstitutional. It had the effect of helping to create and consolidate slums and led to dereliction in large areas of this historic Dublin. I would hate to see this happen again.

It is important to take into account things like capacity to pay. There is no point in imposing additional burdens on people who simply cannot pay. There is no doubt whatsoever that some people cannot afford additional charges. There is also no doubt that this is the thin end of the wedge. Any time this kind of tax has been introduced it has inevitably increased. There are two inevitabilities, it will not be reversed and it will increase. Will it ever be related to the provision of services? I would like it to be.

On self-assessment, assessment usually deals with the amount to be paid not whether one is liable for payment. It is a misnomer to call it self-assessment. It is actually determining whether one is liable for the charge. I am very glad the Minister of State indicated he is prepared to consider the amendments of various colleagues. It would be extraordinary if people in negative equity and others who are having difficulty repaying mortgages were expected to pay. A small gesture was made by the Minister of State in his speech but it did not cover anything like the real number of people in difficulty. How could such people possibly be expected to pay and where is the morality behind it? If people are in negative equity and the value of buildings has collapsed compared to the price they paid during the bubble it is rubbing salt in the wound to expect them to pay further.

With regard to affordable housing, I know of a number of schemes in the city of Dublin where what was purported to be affordable housing was placed on the market. That value has been substantially degraded. If these properties were placed on the market, they would still make a loss. They have been gulled by the local authorities into taking up properties, which they were assured they were getting at below market value. The market has now collapsed and they would not get their money back if they had to be sold. Yet they are being taxed by the same local authorities and in many cases the local authorities refuse to accept responsibility for the condition of these developments or the social circumstances surrounding them, some of which are extremely difficult. I think this is a moral problem.

In principle, I have no difficulty with the Bill as the country is in desperate need of money. Personally, I doubt if we will ever raise enough to resolve the problem. The entire system is in difficulty and until the system is looked at, we will not rectify the problem. I have raised a number of issues that may be addressed during the passage of the Bill through the House. When is it proposed to take Committee and Report and Final Stages?