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30/11/2012
FG Hits Out At FF About Property Tax
Fine Gael Laois/Offaly Deputy, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, has this morning said that Fianna Fáil's hypocrisy when it comes to the property tax knows no bounds.
Deputy Corcoran Kennedy was speaking following confirmation by Fianna Fáil's Daragh O’Brien that his Party has included the household charge revenue of €160 million in its pre-Budget submission, despite the fact that Fianna Fáil claims now is not the time for a property tax.
She said: "Last Wednesday night, under questioning from my colleague Damien English TD on Vincent Browne, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath refused to deny that his Party is still counting on the flat-rate household charge revenue which they have failed to take out of their budgetary figures. This morning, during a debate on Morning Ireland, not only did Deputy O’Brien not deny the fact, but he said that people would actually prefer to continue to pay a flat-rate charge. This financial chicanery and smoke and mirrors approach to raising revenue is further proof that Fianna Fáil has no credibility on the economy whatsoever.
"When Fianna Fáil first signed up to a property tax with the Troika back in 2010, the plan was to raise €530 million through this revenue stream by 2014. This, at a time when property prices were already falling at a rate of 20% a year. The economy is in a much more stable position now with the Government making plans to exit the Programme of Assistance, Live Register figures showing a decline for the first time since 2005 and our bond rates being halved to allow for a successful return to the financial markets.
"Fianna Fáil's continual narrowing of the tax base for political gain led to an over reliance on the property market and forced a generation to buy houses that were valued at massively inflated prices. To put us on a more sustainable footing, we need to broaden our tax base and ensure that local services are funded by way of a local tax, as is the case in countries right across the world.
"Fianna Fáil's stunt of rowing back on a property tax when in opposition, while continuing to rely on flat-rate household charge to prop up their budgetary figures is a new low, even for that Party. It begs the question; when is a property charge not a property tax? The answer is when Fianna Fáil says so."
(CD/GK)
Deputy Corcoran Kennedy was speaking following confirmation by Fianna Fáil's Daragh O’Brien that his Party has included the household charge revenue of €160 million in its pre-Budget submission, despite the fact that Fianna Fáil claims now is not the time for a property tax.
She said: "Last Wednesday night, under questioning from my colleague Damien English TD on Vincent Browne, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath refused to deny that his Party is still counting on the flat-rate household charge revenue which they have failed to take out of their budgetary figures. This morning, during a debate on Morning Ireland, not only did Deputy O’Brien not deny the fact, but he said that people would actually prefer to continue to pay a flat-rate charge. This financial chicanery and smoke and mirrors approach to raising revenue is further proof that Fianna Fáil has no credibility on the economy whatsoever.
"When Fianna Fáil first signed up to a property tax with the Troika back in 2010, the plan was to raise €530 million through this revenue stream by 2014. This, at a time when property prices were already falling at a rate of 20% a year. The economy is in a much more stable position now with the Government making plans to exit the Programme of Assistance, Live Register figures showing a decline for the first time since 2005 and our bond rates being halved to allow for a successful return to the financial markets.
"Fianna Fáil's continual narrowing of the tax base for political gain led to an over reliance on the property market and forced a generation to buy houses that were valued at massively inflated prices. To put us on a more sustainable footing, we need to broaden our tax base and ensure that local services are funded by way of a local tax, as is the case in countries right across the world.
"Fianna Fáil's stunt of rowing back on a property tax when in opposition, while continuing to rely on flat-rate household charge to prop up their budgetary figures is a new low, even for that Party. It begs the question; when is a property charge not a property tax? The answer is when Fianna Fáil says so."
(CD/GK)
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