To respond to the Minister, policy should be scrutinised and I have no problem in him scrutinising my policies. I welcome the fact when we get down to the detail of it and have to put details on the record. Deputy Durkan thinks we are misguided and all of the rest of it, and I like him too, on a personal level. There is no harm in this but his party members are supporting a party that has repeatedly brought forward a policy again that has priced out people in their constituencies. That is the reality of it. When yo…

I move amendment No. 19: In page 96, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on the introduction of a higher rate of capital gains tax on high-income individuals 40. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of a 40 per cent rate of capital gains tax on the disposal of assets made by high-income individuals, including income generated by gains. As we are running out of time, I will not speak on amendments Nos. 1…

I move amendment No. 20: In page 96, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on the treatment of capital gains tax with respect to worker-owned cooperatives 40.The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the treatment of capital gains tax in instances where a company or shares of a company are purchased by a worker-owned cooperative, and options to amend the capital gains tax regime to promote worker-owned cooperatives and employe…

What is interesting about this Report Stage amendment, unknown to myself, is that the Government's increase on biofuel from 11% to 13% will mean that there will be an increase in the price of petrol and diesel at the pumps. That is expected to take place from 1 January 2022. Many families out there are seeing the price of petrol and diesel increasing. Regardless of the amounts involved, part of the increase is the result of the decision to increase the carbon tax in the budget. Petrol and diesel prices have been go…

The Minister spoke about a press release going out at the end of last week after the Cabinet decision to bring forward this measure which in the Minister's view will increase the cost of diesel and petrol by another 2 cent from around 1 January onwards. Most people will not know this and will be asking what the hell is going on here. They are crippled with the cost of petrol and diesel. There is a view, definitely in the Green Party and maybe elsewhere, that we need to continually increase and increase the price of…

Three months later.

I move amendment no. 26: In page 122, after line 35, to insert the following: “Report on the VAT treatment of domestic energy bills 56. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the VAT treatment of domestic energy bills and options regarding the effective removal of VAT on domestic energy bills either through reduction or rebate, in the context of rising energy prices and their impact on low and middle-income households.”. There is no doubt th…

We are not.

It is not true.

The Minister voted against rent relief last night.

Exempting more people from USC.

We put it forward every year.

It is telling that the Minister took 16 seconds to address the core issue. He is elected like the rest of us and entitled to say whatever he wants in the Chamber under the guidance of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, but I get annoyed when he does not address the issue. His script is "Attack Sinn Féin." It is the big bad wolf theory to divert attention from the actual substance. That is why I am saying "wake up" because there is whole different reality out there where people are not interested in this tit for tat between…

-----because they do not have a tax liability at that rate. Am I wrong?

I am absolutely not wrong. The Minister will not give an accurate figure for the number of taxpayers who will not benefit from his marginal tax rate measure because it does not exist. We have loads of ideas regarding personal taxation. We have argued about those who are paying higher levels of tax. We also believe more people should be exempt from USC and that tax credits should be afforded to 300,000 families who are paying sky-high rents because of the Government's policies. We are talking today about how we do w…

Test them.

It is interesting that when the Minister was disputing the figures he did not put them on the record because the impact of his taxation measures excludes the vast majority of taxpayers in this State. That is the reality of it.

There are ways in which we can do this. The Minister could have looked at many of the proposals we put forward that would deal with the cost of living for those people, for example, who need additional social welfare supports and renters who need additional supports. He could have reduced childcare fees by two thirds over two years, as we suggested. He could have helped middle-income families with the cost of sending their children to education by reducing their tax by €500 this year, which would help with increase…

I move amendment No. 37: 37. In page 136, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “PART 6 REPORTS Report on the introduction of levies with respect to the funding of defective block and fire safety redress schemes 66. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of levies against certain financial institutions, construction companies and insurance undertakings to part-fund redress schemes with respect to properties affect…

These families have lived with this nightmare for so long. As I said earlier to the Minister, forget about me and what you think about Sinn Féin.