Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I also live in Monkstown. It is a particularly beautiful part of the world, Baile na Manach.

I want to raise the issue of the very controversial residential zoned land, RZL, tax. It is a new tax which is planned to be introduced and I am calling for a debate on it. The Leader represents a rural constituency. Many people here live in rural communities and represent rural constituencies. This is a very controversial tax proposal that has been met with strong opposition from farm organisations. The tax has been described as a land grab and as a revenue-generating instrument. That is the perception of many people living in rural communities. It has generated huge backlash in rural communities. As someone who is based here in Dublin but who is on the agricultural panel, with contacts right across communities in this country, I know this tax is going to be strongly resisted. It is considered an unfair tax. It is considered a tax on family farms and on productive land that is being used for agriculture, horticulture or commercial vegetable production.

The genesis of this idea was tied in with realising land under the Government's housing policy but it is the wrong tax for a number of reasons. Many farmers feel it is indicative of a growing shift or disconnect between them and the Dublin-centric Government policy advisers. I make that point wisely. It is the policy advisers who are informing the Government; it is not necessarily Government Deputies. This is impacting hugely. It is a tax that should be halted. The message is clear and I am hearing it loud and clear too. This tax is a tax on agri-land, farm families and rural Ireland and it should be strongly resisted. There are clear issues with the residential zoned land tax. The Government has acknowledged that. It is time to do a U-turn. It is never too late to do a U-turn or halt a proposal if you think it is not going to go down well. It is not because it is not politically the right thing to do but I think there is genuinely a miscalculation in relation to this tax. The Limerick Deputy Willie O'Dea raised in the Dáil that the new tax would have profound implications for what were described as genuine farmers, that is, farmers who are working the land. In response, the Taoiseach confirmed that the tax will be modified to address the anomalies. He accepts that there are anomalies in this tax. I am asking that we acknowledge that there is concern across all parties about this tax on agricultural land. I ask that we have some sort of briefing and debate within this House to see if we can in some way re-navigate this issue, address the issues concerned so we do not penalise rural communities, farmers and active farm land management.