David Norris (Independent)

I hope there will be some degree of flexibility. There is just a little of casuistry in what the Minister said about the affordable housing scheme not qualifying for an exemption. While it may well be true that this scheme was intended to assist people, it has not and has actually placed many in difficulties. Those in the scheme are in possession of properties which are not worth anything like what they were when they were supposed to be affordable. The idea they have secured any permanent advantage is completely wrong.

I am aware of several people in the city of Dublin who were in professions badly hit such as nursing which while social beneficial had small incomes. These incomes have already been raided by various taxes, impositions and levies. As I said on Second Stage, €100 may seem small to people with black bank accounts. To those with red bank accounts, it is a very large sum of money.

There is no doubt either that once this type of regime is installed, it is virtually impossible to reverse it and there is an inevitable tendency to increase such charges. No one believes this charge will stay at €100. We have another four budgets to go under the austerity scheme. Every time the Seanad returns to address this subject, the charge will have gone up. That is why we should consider, as carefully and as sensitively as possible, how we might protect the most vulnerable people. Among the latter, I include anybody who, by definition, was deemed to be an appropriate person to purchase affordable housing. The very ethos behind the scheme is that those who availed of it could not afford to buy homes without assistance. As a result of the collapse of the property market, that assistance has proven to be an encumbrance rather than an assistance. Those to whom I refer now own properties in respect of which they could get into debt if they decided to sell. I ask that consideration be given to this aspect of the matter.