Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said in his most recent contribution that this is not an exact science. I hope there are more of those people who we are all fighting for listening in today, because this is totally unacceptable. If we are putting in a new tax, which is what this is, then it should be an exact science. It should be agreed in this House and, more important, it should be agreed by Revenue and the Department. This is a tourist tax, by all accounts, and if the Minister of State is bringing in a new tax, it should be an exact science. This goes back to the point made by Senator Chambers that we do not have the information. Let us press the pause button and review this after a year, as the Minister, Deputy Coveney, committed to, as did others in the Dáil previously. It is not good enough for those listening in who are at the pin of their collar to hear from the Minister of State that this is not an exact science but they will have to put up with it. It is no good to them when they will have to close their doors and, in many cases, not open them again. I hope the Minister of State is listening to his Government colleagues and all of us on this side of the House.