Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not speak off the record on those issues.

The property tax is deeply unfair and unjust, particularly in County Meath. In towns like Dunboyne and Ratoath, which are in the top 13% of house prices nationwide according to the register of property prices for last year, no account is taken of mortgages, commuting to work or the extra costs of these families. It is deeply unfair. Another issue is the level of service people get from local authorities. Having paid development levies in a rural area, when people see the potholed roads and no prospect of it getting fixed when they pay the property tax, they are not inclined to want to pay the property tax. They want to comply with the law, as Fianna Fáil does, but we can see the frustration people have when they see basic items left undone because of a lack of funding. In housing estates, people are expecting the grass will be cut or that residents associations will get more help from local authorities. That is not likely.

This is the wrong tax at the wrong time. No one, not even the IMF, told the Government to introduce this tax. The Government has renegotiated the IMF agreement on a number of occasions. One of the best examples of renegotiation is the reduction in capital spending expenditure with the IMF. The Government did not want to spend the money on capital expenditure, such as roads, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport boasted last year that ¤400 million was cut from the road budget and no one noticed. That renegotiation was a Government choice, just like the property tax. No one told the Government to include people with very high mortgages or those on social welfare and no one told the Government to be so blatantly unfair.

One specific issue, which has an impact on a number of households in south Meath, is pyrite. I welcome the exemption for those houses with pyritic heave but people are asking a number of questions. The standard test for pyrite in a house costs between ¤2,000 and ¤3,000. Will that test be required for people to get an exemption? That will take the good out of the exemption. Another test is that someone comes in with a spirit level and checks the house or conducts a basic visual inspection. One can see whether houses have pyrite or have suffered from pyrite damage.

Another issue concerned housing estates where some houses have pyrite but others do not. All houses in such estates are unsaleable. This is a major issue in going to the Revenue Commissioners and saying the value of the house is zero. If I want to buy a house in certain estates in south County Meath, I cannot get a mortgage for any of the houses on the estates, regardless of pyrite damage. I hope the Minister of State is dealing with that point and hope to get the answer. I do not see the answer in the legislation. It will affect certain houses and not others, depending on the phase of building. However, all houses will be tarred with the same brush. I welcome some of the measures the Government has announced in respect of pyrite damage but I would like to see it being done quicker. I have been constructive in my support for the Government. There is much uncertainty for these people and they are asking me for answers. I am sure they will be asking people in Meath East over the coming weeks.

Fundamentally, this is a deeply unfair tax and it will hit people really hard. People do not realise the amount they will have to pay but they certainly realise the lack of services. We are often blamed for abolishing household rates in the 1970s but at the time they were very high and were a huge burden on families. Sinn Féin is running a no property tax campaign in Lifford but in Strabane, which is essentially the same town, they have increased the local property tax by the highest rate in the North of Ireland. These are questions Sinn Féin must answer in respect of property tax. I have always been opposed to property tax because I see its impact in County Meath, particularly in the commuter belt.

The Bill should be opposed and it is not true to say we have had a full debate on it. One of my colleagues said that this was the day for amendments and that we had a day for the property tax. We have had guillotined debates rushed through before Christmas and the Bill is now being rushed through before a by-election. This is deeply unfair to the people because they are not getting the full time to debate the issues. It is being handed down from on high while everyone is doing their work preparing for it, although the legislation has not yet been passed.