Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the statement by a Government spokesman that it is looking into the future development of the property tax as a tax base. The fear would be that at next review the property tax would be 70% more expensive than now, which would be a serious problem in a period when there has been no increase in real incomes.

I note the report on the ambulance service and the statement by the chairman of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association that we have developed in Ireland a misuse of ambulance service which he said should not be tolerated. He said: "There should be some sort of a charge, because people do abuse it. We have instances of that - we have our regular callers." He also said that :"If [the people abusing the system] are an a medical card, it should be three strikes and you lose it." This is an expensive service. It is needed for vital purposes and to have it used as some kind of taxi, as seems to be implied by the statement of the chairman of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, is a travesty. I hope that problem can be tackled.