Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Cathaoirleach and all of my colleagues back for what I hope will be a very productive Seanad session. I hope we will play our part in the budgetary process and thank the Leader for agreeing earlier today that we would have proper and reasoned debates in advance of budget announcements. Up until now, to take the example of the proposed property tax, there have been no proper discussions. There have been soundbites on radio and rumours as to what the rate of this tax will be, how it will be charged, who will pay it and how much they will pay. During the course of the debates it would not be unreasonable for the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, to introduce the actual proposal of the Government on the property tax. Is the rate to be 0.25% of the valuation of the property? If that is the case, for the standard house in Dublin one will pay in the region of €750 per annum. We are asking people to do this in a context where more than one in five mortgages is in arrears, 50% of households are in negative equity and disposable income for more than 1.8 million people is less than €100 per month. This is the type of property tax the Government seeks to introduce, but we should be looking at alternatives. The only way in which they can be looked at is if a proper and reasoned debate takes place in advance of the budget. My party colleagues and I will use these opportunities to bring forward reasoned and costed alternatives to the measures the Government wishes to introduce. In particular, I put the House on notice that we will vociferously oppose the property tax as it appears to be constituted, namely, as an anti-urban, anti-Dublin tax. People will not have the ability to pay it.

I welcome the announcement today by the Minister for Children, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on the 31st amendment to the Constitution, the children's rights referendum that will be held on 10 November. Following my party's meeting earlier today, I confirm to the House that we will support the referendum. We await the publication of additional documentation in due course. I thank the Leader for allowing an appropriate amount of time next week to debate this very important issue. Within this and the other House, we can make all the laws we want to protect children, but unless the resources are available to protect them, laws mean nothing. As part of this debate we must consider how we can better structure State services in order to better meet the needs of all children. Laws are one thing but action is another.

In the context of the matter to which I refer, I use the example of the 75 social workers who were supposed to have been appointed under the programme for Government in order to deal with issues relating to children. All 75 posts remain vacant.

I hope the Cathaoirleach will indulge me, as I have not been able to say anything for two months.