Jimmy Harte (Labour) | Oireachtas source

In tabling this amendment, the Sinn Féin Senator spoke about tenants. Another Sinn Féin representative, Eoin Ó Broin, stated that if council tenants are made to foot the bill they will be paying for properties they do not own. However, that is the norm in Northern Ireland. Private and council tenants pay property taxes. A party cannot take two different positions on tenants of a property.

A tenant in Northern Ireland does not own the house in the same way as a tenant in the Republic does not own the house. One cannot force a person in Northern Ireland to pay a tax when he or she is a tenant and not do the same in the Republic. It is the same principle that must be adhered to, irrespective of whether it is ¤1 or ¤500 a year. Sinn Féin's principles are all over the place and I cannot find a word in the English language to describe its policy. One could call it a cross-Border tax, because it is different on each side.