Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, the best of luck in his new role. At the outset I must say that I am a block layer and a building contractor. I have been in the building sector all my life. One thing the Government never sees is the person who wants to buy his or her own house and we all hope that down the line, our children will be in a position to buy their own house. Do people realise that up to 40% of their mortgage is tax? For people in this country to be able to afford a mortgage, they have to have a wage that can afford a mortgage. To afford a €300,000 mortgage, for example, they have to show in their accounts that they have excess income in a month of up to €3,000 - and this is after they pay for everything else. They are paying tax on their wages if they want to qualify for a mortgage, then when they qualify for their mortgage they pay for it over the next 25 or 30 years, and 40% of the money they borrow for the mortgage for the roof they put over their own heads is tax. Does this make sense to anyone? A person who is working and paying tax now has to borrow for a mortgage and 40% of the mortgage goes back to the Government again on tax. Where is the reward in that? Does it make business sense to anyone? Can anyone make sense of that?

Consider the block-laying levy that was due to the scandal of pyrite throughout the country. We have had mica and pyrite affecting the people of Donegal and right down through the country. The quarries were shown where the mica and pyrite was. What did the Government do to the people of Ireland? It said "We will solve this and we will make sure we cover the money to repair your houses, so we will put a 5% levy - tax - on all the people who want to rebuild a house or do up a house for the way forward for themselves." Then, as the same companies have given us four increases of up to 30% over the last 18 months to two years, the costs have risen. Where once a cubic metre of concrete cost €80 now it is in excess of €120 but it depends on the day one calls. It has gone up €40 a metre. Therefore, we are paying extra tax for the levy for something people had nothing to do with and now we are paying extra tax on the increases on materials. Because of the green policies, anything that is oil-based in this country is taxed. This includes silicone, or any other materials that are oil-based, including the insulation for a house. The taxes on these are all increasing.

Anyone in this country who has a child, a grandchild, a brother or a sister and who wants to put a roof over their heads is now paying 40% tax on top of the tax we pay when we work. Is that something a Government should be proud of? Where is the reward for somebody who works in this country? Where is the reward for somebody who wants to put a roof over their own head in this country? Where is the reward for an employer who is teaching people trades in order that they may be able to put a roof over their own heads? Where is the reward for any of that? There is none. All the Government has done is create inflation on top of inflation. These people who work and pay their taxes know there are vulnerable people in the State who cannot work and they do not mind paying their fair share but the Government is taxing them out of existence.

The Government is also taking 50% in tax from the fuel used by someone going to work. Not only is the Government taking tax off their wages now it is also taking tax on the fuel they use to get to work. The person who works in this State is actually working to pay tax. Do they see any benefits for themselves afterwards? No, they do not. Do they see the benefits for the people who are vulnerable? Yes they do, but not everyone in this country wants to work because the Government has made it so comfortable for them to stay at home. That is a big problem and the Government is putting all the taxes back on the people who are working. This is something for us to think of. If the Government reduced the taxes on the houses and on all the materials, we would then have people who would not mind working in this country because they would not have to spend 40% of their income back in tax and as our mortgages might actually be a little bit cheaper, people might be able to afford it and knock five years off the struggle to put a roof over their own heads.

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