David Norris (Independent)

I strongly support the amendment as it addresses the position of very vulnerable people. The Minister of State was present when I made similar points on Second Stage. In particular, I addressed myself to the issue of the affordable housing schemes under which houses, homes or apartments were made available to people, including many who were in very valuable professions such as nurses, gardaí and carers. These professions have suffered considerable cutbacks in their income since it was deemed appropriate by the local authorities that housing should be made available to them at less than what was then deemed to be the market rate and on the basis of their circumstances, low income and high price of houses. The purchasers of housing under the schemes paid amounts which are now considerably in excess of the market value of their homes. They are in a very difficult position and there is a clear argument for exempting those who were deemed to be appropriate recipients of affordable housing. While I understand the Government is in financial difficulties, people who purchased homes under the affordable housing scheme should be exempt.

I also accept the argument made by Senator Ó Domhnaill on the proposed paragraph (g), which refers to people who paid stamp duty during a certain period and have been badly caught in the property bubble. I also have some sympathy with those who purchased homes under the shared ownership scheme. The area about which I know most and, therefore, on which I make my strongest argument relates to those who purchased homes under the affordable housing scheme. I hope the Minister of State will be able to assume a position of some flexibility in this regard. I will certainly support the amendment. As I stated, I referred to this matter at some length on Second Stage. I hope the Minister of State has been softened up to some degree on the matter.

I thank the Minister of State for facilitating our request to table amendments yesterday. This is a reasonable amendment. When I raised this matter with the former Minister of State, Deputy Willie Penrose, whose portfolio was housing, he had a clear understanding of my concern. A major mortgage arrears problem has arisen among those who purchased their homes under the affordable housing and shared ownership schemes. More than 18.5% of households in Fingal which were purchased under the affordable homes scheme are in arrears. Unfortunately, local authorities and the Housing Finance Agency are not covered under the statutory code of conduct on mortgage arrears. This is causing a major problem. While I do not wish to stray from the point, I hope this matter will be given serious consideration when a new Minister of State is appointed to replace Deputy Penrose. Perhaps the Minister of State will raise it with the Minister because county councils are behaving worse than the banks in many respects.

As Senators Norris and Ó Domhnaill noted, those who purchased under the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes did so because their incomes were so low as to preclude them from getting on the property ladder. Those who purchased under the shared ownership scheme are already in negative equity because the equity amount in the local authority increased over the term. A major mortgage arrears problem has also arisen in this area. This may be a separate issue but it drives home the reason an exemption should be provided for the individuals referred to in the amendment.

The previous Government reduced stamp duty to 1% on all property transactions. Many people missed the boat between 2004 and 2008 and paid substantial stamp duty fees. It can be easily demonstrated through the Land Registry and Revenue who paid stamp duty during the period in question. I welcome the Government announcement to increase mortgage interest relief to 30% for people who bought their first home between 2004 and 2008. Exempting this group from the household charge would be a logical extension of yesterday's measure. Having given out previously in the House about the Government's failure to make good on its commitment on mortgage interest relief, I commend it on fulfilling the promise Fine Gael gave in its election manifesto. If one follows the logic of yesterday's measure, namely, that those who purchased homes between 2004 and 2008 were, in the main, more adversely affected than others by the mortgage crisis and property crash, by extension one will exempt them from the charge. This is a logical amendment which stacks up in terms of Government policy and the changes introduced in recent days. I ask the Minister of State to accept it. Tá sé ráite againn go bhfuilimid i gcoinne an flat rate charge i bprionsabal mar níl sé féaráilte, tá sé iomlán éagórach sa chaoi go bhfuil sé á chur i bhfeidhm. Ba chóir go mbeadh cáin mhaoine á baint ó dhaoine atá in ann í a íoc ach sa chomhthéacs go bhfuil sé i gceist, is cosúil, ag an Rialtas an Bille seo a chur tríd, táimid ag iarraidh damage limitation a dhéanamh go pointe áirithe. Sa chás sin táimid ag tacú leis an leasú atá á mholadh.

We in Sinn Féin are opposed to a flat tax, a point I made yesterday on the previous Stage. We do not promote this line but as a damage limitation exercise we support this amendment. I note it is linked with amendment No. 9 so Members might also look at that. In it we suggest the meaning given to a residential property, as outlined in section 2, "shall not be amended save by the Oireachtas". We suggest that if any change to that definition is proposed it must come back to the Houses of the Oireachtas in order that we do not give sweeping powers to a Minister in the future, one who might not be as understanding as the present Minister, or who might decide to take certain categories out of the exemption clause category.

In the current economic climate where so many families are struggling we do not know if the Government has grasped the seriousness of the situation. More people must be included in the waiver scheme - those arguments have been made. We agree that those who purchased houses under the affordable housing scheme should be taken into consideration as well as homes on which stamp duty has been paid, from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2011, and those who purchased through the shared ownership scheme. That is very important because many of those people are in negative equity and cannot afford to pay their mortgages. Many of them have lost their jobs and will now suffer with the extra cutbacks, the water tax, the sewerage tax and all the extra charges such as that arising from losing money for school buses. We could continue. These young people who bought houses in the past ten years are really struggling. They have small familes and are suffering cutbacks in child income allowance.

Their situation must be taken into account when we consider this extra tax. It is a tax - it is not fair to call it a charge. If one charges people one gives them some sort of extra service. If I go somewhere and am charged for something I expect a service. There are no extra perks for anybody who pays this extra charge, as it is called. It is really an extra tax on people and therefore we support this amendment.

It is equally important, in regard to my party's amendment No. 9 in section 4, that the meaning, as outlined, will be amended only by the Oireachtas and that any proposed change must return to the Houses for us to discuss. We do not want Ministers of State taking categories of people, willy-nilly, in or out of the scheme. There needs to be debate on this point and it is unfortunate there has not been more debate on this Bill before now. It is going through the Houses quickly. The reason my party will push amendment No. 9 is to ensure that if any changes are to be made in eligibility for the waiver the relevant proposal must come before the Houses. We might even be able to suggest extra groupings to be taken into account.