David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I am dealing with the €100 charge.

The Government is saying anybody on mortgage interest relief is okay. In the budget, it increased the mortgage interest relief to 30% for certain people who are in very real difficulty with their mortgages. While the Government is affording them this welcome relief, it is also taking €100 per week from them. There is no logic to this.

The point I am making to the Minister of State, which is in keeping with all the amendments to which I refer, begs the question as to why the charge is being imposed. What do people get for it? What is the return? If it is a tax, it should be called a tax. The Government should not be saying to the people in the State that it is not increasing taxation when it is very clear that it is.