Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

I am dealing with the amendment. We all know that this is not the ideal way to introduce a property tax and nobody has said it is. While the initial charge of €100 per property is not value based, the Minister and the Government are firmly committed to introducing a valuation based property tax to replace the household charge. That is what we said then, that is what we are doing now and that is what we are admitting to now. Nobody said it was ideal.

Senator Ó Domhnaill and Senator Norris said it is not fair for the people in Blackrock who have mansions to pay the same. That is the reason the Minister has indicated that work is to commence early in the new year on the development of a fairer property tax.