Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

My objective was to save the Exchequer money rather than being adjudged to have cost it money. I am concerned about the section, which was previously section 17 in the explanatory memorandum and deals with people dealing in or developing land. It provides them with loss relief where the decline in the land value has been realised by way of a disposal prior to the claim being made. We are taxing houses. I do not know the amount because that is not how we publish the Finance Bill. What will this cost? Should we not be trying to cure Ireland of land speculation and try to get the economy over a very bad property bug? Is there a moral hazard element here? People lost money in buying and selling land and they certainly cost this country dearly if we go through the accounts of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide in particular. They polluted the entire banking system. We do not pay out on losing lottery tickets or betting slips. If people lost money buying and selling land in the past decade in Ireland, they are among the least worthy people to give tax breaks to. This morning, I heard a spokesperson for the Irish Farmers' Journal talk about the concerns about land prices escalating, when we are trying to promote agriculture rather than the purchasing and selling of land. It is a concern when we try to increase agricultural output. Are we giving tax breaks to people who lost money selling land? If so, why? Is it not part of what got us into the mess the Minister and everyone in the House is trying to cure Ireland of? If people lost money on land, the prices paid were ludicrous by any standard and there is a moral hazard in giving an undertaking to such people that they can write off the losses for tax purposes.