Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are talking about the inheritance tax here. I welcome the move we have made, but I do not think we have gone far enough. It is not that I believe we should be throwing confetti up in the air in the budget and have everybody grabbing it. However, people paid for these properties. Most likely it is a farm or whatever. They are paying back the bank for this property. They are paying the property tax. They are paying for the repairs and the day-to-day running. Down on top of this, when they hand it over after all those years of payment, they are caught for inheritance tax if they are handing it on to their son or daughter or other family member. That is very unfair. I am surprised that people in this Chamber are objecting to that. That is a terrible infliction on people who have paid big money. As Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said, you are not going to buy a farm today for €100,000 or €200,000. You could pay up to €500,000 or €1 million for a farm. That is the bank being paid. When you have all those payments paid back after working mortally hard on your farm and your property, you are caught with a tax again at the end of it. It is a win-win situation for the State. It has made its money out of the property tax. It has made its money out of whatever other payments the farmer has had to make. The banks have made their money out of it. When the farmer comes to pass it on, they are going to bleed him dry. I believe that should be raised to €500,000. It is a hugely important issue. I know a decision has been made, but I do not think the Minister got the proper advice when he was making that decision. It is something we have looked into in recent times. I urge the Minister to make that change. I will not be supporting this unless the change is made.

See this speech in context