I am interested in the Tánaiste's painting of the brave new dawn. It has been a bad week and a bad year for the finances of the country. In view of the fact that the Taoiseach stated yesterday there would be no wave of repossessions, which runs contrary to what was stated in the Financial Times and other global media and about which the Government is so sensitive, why has the decision been made to introduce legislation to allow the banks greater powers of repossession next year?

Outrageous.

It is because the troika has told the Government to do this. It will be open season on home owners in 2013 because that legislation will not plug a loophole, rather it will allow the banks to repossess at will.

Yes.

State-owned banks are going to be used as agents, with the connivance of the Government, to put people out of their own homes on a scale not seen so far.

Bailiffs.

That is what the Minister for Finance has stated. In addition - this is the reason I say it will be open season on home owners - the Government has extraordinarily decided on the issue of a property tax that it will bring in the heavies to collect the money from those who are unable to pay.

Big Phil is back, too.

For some reason the Revenue Commissioners have been selected as the collectors of this tax, not any other body. Why is this? The reason is that people will have the property tax which they are unable to pay deducted at source. I am not talking only about the middle classes and high and middle income earners but also about people on social welfare who will be confronted with a situation where the property tax will be taken from their social welfare payment before they can even put food on the table. Will the Tánaiste tell me why the Revenue Commissioners were selected to do this? Is it because the Government knew and did not care, that people would be unable to pay?

The sheriff, too.

The Government has made it very clear that we want to keep people in their own homes and avoid having homes repossessed. That is why at a very early stage in the life of the Government we put in place the Keane group which came forward with a list of recommendations to address the problem of repossessions as as result of mortgage arrears. That is the reason we introduced, for the first time, legislation which I expect will be completed either this week or next, namely, the Personal Insolvency Bill which will introduce radical changes to our personal insolvency laws-----

The banks have a veto.

-----and strengthen the hand of home owners in their dealings with banks. This legislation is long overdue.

Banks will have a veto.

Some of us were not allowed to vote on it.

The Revenue Commissioners were chosen to collect the property tax because that is the agency in the State which collects taxes. If we were to do something different-----

Will they be collecting the septic tank tax?

-----Deputy Ross would write a column for his newspaper or he would get up on stage with his colleagues to discuss the waste of State resources in having multiple agencies doing what one agency could do. Has not the Deputy argued-----

Who collects commercial rates?

Look what happened when the Government put SUSI in charge of student grants.

-----that one agency should deal with matters of this nature?

Who collects commercial rates?

The Revenue Commissioners is the body which is tasked with collecting revenue in this country and it has been asked to lead the collection of the property tax. The House will debate the property tax legislation when it is introduced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan. I am sure Deputy Ross can make all of these points to the Minister.

A guillotine is also being applied in respect of that legislation.

The four angry booksellers.

I asked the Tánaiste two questions, neither of which he answered.

The Deputy is only allowed to ask one.

Why is legislation going to be introduced in 2013 to give the banks a free run at homeowners? Why can the Government not take the view that this legislation is unnecessary-----

If the Deputy keeps going this way Deputy Higgins will give him an application form to join his party.

Well done, Deputy Rabbitte.

-----and that it would more sympathetic to homeowners if it were not introduced?

Does the Tánaiste have sympathy with the view that the Revenue Commissioners have been chosen to collect the property tax because this is the only way the money involved can be extracted from people as a result of the fact that they simply cannot afford to pay? Imagine the scene that will obtain when many people on social welfare payments or modest incomes have money deducted from those payments or their salaries. They will be obliged to make sacrifices in respect of necessities such as putting bread on the table, paying fees and heating their homes. I ask the Tánaiste to reconsider what is being done here. There are other ways of collecting this tax. Did the Government collect the household charge through the Revenue Commissioners? The reason it is not collecting the property tax in the same way it collected the household charge is that people cannot pay. The Government's attitude is that it is going to bring in the heavy gang-----

It is organising the-----

-----to collect this money willy-nilly because the latter will ignore the needs of the people from whom it is going to be taken.

Deputy Ross will be out on the streets with Deputy Higgins next.

More than most Members, Deputy Ross knows very well that the tax base must be broadened.

This is not broadening the tax base.

Then what is it doing?

It is taking money from exactly the same people-----

Deputy Ross should not be ridiculous.

Deputy Ross's theatrics have a place and people can pay €25 for the privilege of seeing those theatrics in that place.

The Tánaiste would do well-----

It is a pantomime over there.

Would people pay to watch what is happening here?

We did not have to pay at the box office this morning in order to listen to Deputy Ross.

The Tánaiste will have to pay next time.

Deputy Ross knows well that the tax base must be broadened.

Is including social welfare recipients the way to broaden it? That is a new concept.

That is Labour's way.

He is also well aware that householders are being given various options with regard to method of payment. As he is further aware, over 70% of householders have paid the household charge. I thank them for doing so. When this Parliament decides that a tax should be levied, there is an obligation on everyone to be compliant and pay it. The Revenue Commissioners have developed expertise in the collection of taxes.

They take a long time to get money from tax defaulters.

If we were to give responsibility for collecting the property tax to some other agency, Deputy Ross would be the first to make the argument about duplication of resources and the additional cost relating to tax collection.

Deputy Ross was speaking on behalf of the Socialist Party.