Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach as mo ábhar a roghnú ar an Athló sa Seanad. This matter is very important. There is huge unfairness with the property tax in general and this unfairness particularly manifests itself in the commuter belt in Dublin, particularly in areas of south County Meath. The property tax is based on a market value approach which does not take into account the fact that many of these houses have very high mortgages. While there is much emphasis on Dublin and Cork, last year in County Meath the average property in Dunboyne sold for ¤270,000 and the average property in Ratoath sold for ¤274,000. This puts both of these towns in the top 13% of average sale prices last year. The average house in Ashbourne sold for ¤220,000.

If one looks at the census to discover when houses were built one finds that 36% of houses in the Meath East constituency have been built since 2001. In Ratoath this proportion increases to more than 50%. A characteristic of houses built in the past ten years is a high mortgage. These people have high property values on paper but they also have high mortgages. While the Government is more than willing to take into account the high property value to claim a property tax, it is not taking into account the fact that almost all of these people to whom I refer are highly leveraged on mortgages. This should be taken into account. Nothing in the property tax takes into account ability to pay. Ability to pay is hampered even more for those in the commuter belt of Dublin by the fact they have large mortgages. The proposed property tax is inequitable and biased against many home owners in County Meath. I suggest the same applies in Senator O'Brien's area and in Kildare and north Wicklow.

There are also difficulties with valuing properties but we do have the property price register so we can have exact figures. The Government must look at this again. Another characteristic of commuter belt areas, particularly in County Meath, is underdeveloped county council services. People will pay these charges but will not receive the services they deserve because by and large many of these towns do not have town councils. They do not have their own dedicated staff looking after individual towns. People will pay the tax at a much higher rate than average but they will not receive the same services.

I am raising on the Adjournment this issue of huge unfairness because we did not have sufficient time on Second or Committee Stages of the Bill and I do not believe we debated Report Stage of this very important legislation. The Government will find itself surprised at the reaction of people to the property tax, particularly those with very high mortgages. As far back as 2009 I was quoted publicly in newspapers nationally as being opposed to a property tax for the reasons I have outlined today, which I told my friends and colleagues in government at the time. I made my position very clear.

I am not looking for the Minister of State to blame the previous Government for this tax. It is this Government's tax and I ask the Minister of State to make it fairer, particularly for those who bought houses in the past ten years who have very high mortgages and who happen to live in an area with theoretical high property values.