Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

We have had extensive debates on the household charge and it has featured intensively in the media for a long time. It might be well worth our while to have a discussion on why the campaign against the charge has gathered such momentum. It has taken us all by surprise. One of the reasons for it is the perceived anomalies and inequities in our taxation system. For instance, if somebody is in receipt of perks or concessions, it is not always fully understood why that might be happening, even when there is a valid reason for them.

I have paid the household charge and I fully understand and support the Government position's on this because it would be hypocritical to join a campaign or jump on a bandwagon simply to oppose it because of the discontent felt by people. However, apart from the methodology of presenting this to the people and the threats that were made, which were wrong from the beginning, the fact that same €100 applies to everyone is an issue. It was not sufficient for us to know it was an interim measure and that a proper household tax will be put in place when the database is put together and appropriate valuations are used. If one lives in a particular area in a small house and is living on a low income, one must pay €100 but, down the road, a millionaire living a mansion only has to pay the same amount. We must examine this perception.

The same principle applies to the proposal for taxing foreign executives. There must be another way of dealing with that because it amounts to preferential treatment. The same could be said of the value of an Irish person's work. If he or she is giving a service in the community, one could argue on the same premise that he or she should get preferential treatment. I would like to debate the taxation system because the discontent will not go away. The minute the household charge database is put together and a new system is introduced, the same opposition will be experienced.

It was suggested that if 50% of householders paid the tax before the deadline, this would be hailed as a success but it is an admission of failure. If that same measurement was applied to all other taxes, the Exchequer would have a serious problem.