People are angry enough with the decision of the Government to double the property tax in 2014. Many people face bills of on average €400 and many face bills of €600 and beyond. People became even more angry and annoyed with the letters that issued from Revenue last week in respect of the method of paying the property tax. Essentially, those who wish to pay by debit card or credit card will have to pay four months earlier and must pay the 2014 property tax in 2013. Notwithstanding the anger of people, it will have an impact on a fragile domestic economy, coming into the critical period of Christmas time when spending power is everything and consumer sentiment is so important.

The response of the Government has been incoherent and almost split down the middle. The Labour Party has taken a stance of calling in the Revenue and the Tánaiste saying it should change its policy. The Taoiseach has stood firm, while the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, is nonplussed and cannot understand what Revenue is at. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have supported Revenue. The reason is that the Taoiseach said the Government sets policy and the Revenue implements it. The Taoiseach is correct in that respect. The legislative template, in the form of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act, gave the framework for Revenue to issue letters in respect of credit and debit cards. The policy is wrong because the legislation was rushed. It was rammed through the Dáil with no time for people to tease out issues in the Bill or table amendments. It is a good example of why the Government should not have rushed through the legislation, given the lack of a deadline.

The questions I have to put to the Taoiseach are as follows. Will the Taoiseach clarify for me whether he, the Minister for Finance or the Department of Finance were aware that these letters were to be issued by Revenue?

Second, does he agree that those who wish to pay by credit or debit card should be able to do so in 2014 and does he agree to bring forward an amendment to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012? If the Labour Party believes that the policy is wrong and that those who are obliged to pay a bill for 2014 should not be required to pay that in 2013, the Government can table an amendment to section 12(1) of the Act to ensure that Revenue not require any person to make payment prior to 1 January of the year following the liability date regardless of the payment method that he or she chooses. It is simple and straightforward. Would the Taoiseach agree to such an amendment which would clarify this, once and for all, and put the policy framework right?

The Taoiseach should admit they made a fine mess of it.

First, I thank those who have paid their property charges for 2013 for the half-year that applies. As Deputy Martin will be aware, this property charge was introduced instead of income tax increases as an important element of growing the economy and funding local services.

It is important to clear up a number of matters here. The tax for 2014 is due in 2014. There is no legal obligation on anybody to pay any property charge for 2014 in the remaining weeks of this year. It does not prevent somebody from doing so, if he or she wishes.

I would remind Deputy Martin that section 119 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012, as amended, sets out the dates for payment of the local property tax and for the year 2014, the payment due date is 1 January 2014. The legislation also makes provisions for property owners to pay the tax for 2014 in equal instalments over the period, 1 January 2014 to the end of December 2014.

The Minister for Finance has made it perfectly clear that the preference of the Government and the Department of Finance is to receive the payments for 2014 in 2014 and there are a number of options set out there by the Revenue Commissioners so that persons can give effect to that principle in the law, that the 2014 property tax is due in 2014 and not now. From this forum,-----

Talk about gobbledygook.

-----let me say that there is no obligation whatsoever, legal or otherwise-----

Would Deputy Healy-Rae stay quiet?

This is ridiculous.

-----upon persons to pay the 2014 tax-----

Gobbledygook.

Would Deputy Healy-Rae stay quiet?

It is hard to.

-----in the remaining weeks of this year.

I would point out to Deputy Martin that there is a difference between the debit card and the debit mandate. For those who go online, they can choose the option of giving the Revenue Commissioners authority to have a debit mandate, which is effective from 21 March 2014, where all they must do is put in their sort code and bank account number because those who have a chequebook, a credit card or a debit card must have a bank account. Therefore, the simplest way, as one of the many options available, is to give that authorisation as a debit mandate, effective from 21 March, for payment of the property charge.

Nobody has to pay the 2014 property charge in 2013. Deputy Cowen may laugh at it, but that is the fact of what the law is and persons have numerous options to give effect to that.

The Taoiseach should try explaining that to the elderly.

I call Deputy Martin.

The Taoiseach should try explaining that to the elderly.

Since when did Deputy Healy-Rae become leader of the Fianna Fáil Party?

I am sorry. I am entitled to speak when I hear this rubbish.

Not on Leaders' Questions. Deputy Healy-Rae had better talk to Deputy Martin.

Deputy Healy-Rae should keep his eyes on the road.

As an aside, the Taoiseach might explain all of that to the Tánaiste and to the Chairman to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Ciarán Lynch, who, off his own bat, went off and stated he was hauling in the Revenue because something terrible had happened and something needed to change. Likewise, the Tánaiste said the same. That incoherence has been at the heart of Government on this topic. Would the Taoiseach explain it to the Tánaiste in the first instance?

There is an issue here in terms of payment method. That is the core of the point. If one pays by debit or credit card, one will be paying this year and one will be penalised for choosing that particular method of payment. There was no basis for that.

Simply, the Government can amend the legislation, if the Tánaiste is serious. There is no point in dragging in the chairman of the Revenue before a committee and having an optical exercise showing how the Government is great in fighting on behalf of the people when the answer lies in the Tánaiste's hands in terms of amending the legislation by stating that Revenue shall not require anyone to pay the property tax in 2013 by virtue of the particular payment method that he or she adopts.

There is an important reason for this, which is that the domestic economy is still fragile and needs maximum consumer spend coming into Christmas. The reality is the Government is taking more money out of the economy as a result of this than is necessary at this particular point in time.

The Taoiseach did not answer the first question I asked. Were he and the Minister aware that these letters were issuing last week?

The date in question in reference to the letter is a filing date. It does not have a statutory base. It is a reminder that the 2014 property tax is due in 2014.

The return date is in the legislation.

The Revenue Commissioners pointed out on the form circulated-----

No, the legislation.

The Taoiseach himself did not read it.

-----that the person has the option of-----

Sorry, please.

-----doing it by paper or online-----

The Taoiseach has misled the Dáil.

He is misleading the Dáil.

The Taoiseach misled the Dáil there. There is a statutory backing to what the Revenue did in terms of the letter it issued. Was he aware it was going out?

Deputy Martin had his say.

-----so the-----

That is what I asked the Taoiseach: was he aware or not?

Is Deputy Martin asking the questions or am I-----

I did and I got no answer.

-----supposed to answer him?

The Taoiseach is on the ropes again.

Sorry, would Deputies please allow the Taoiseach to reply?

Deputy Martin will be well aware that the filing date that has been mentioned is not a statutory date for payment. It is a request to all of those who did not put their property tax payments on direct debit to remind them that the payment is due in 2014 and setting out options for them to pay it in 2014.

Including one which demands they pay now.

The position is that if, for instance, one submits a cheque to the Revenue Commissioners-----

We all know that.

-----by cheque or postal order, it will apply from 1 January. There are seven options.

One can spread one's payments over a period-----

Were the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance aware?

The Revenue cashed the cheques when it received them the last time.

-----by direct debit on the 15th of every month, one can pay by single mandate authority from 21 March or one can make payment in a variety of ways at outlets that are set up for this very purpose.

I thank the Taoiseach.

I thank those who have paid their property charge-----

Was the Taoiseach aware?

The Taoiseach should answer the specific question.

-----and I remind Deputy Martin that this was introduced as an alternative to increased income tax. We do not impose a tax on jobs.

The Government is taking it out of people's wages.

It is to fund local services and to grow the economy.

When will the cheque be cashed? The Taoiseach should answer the question.

We are over time now.

I would remind Deputy Martin also that the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners is appearing before the Oireachtas committee on Thursday.

A show trial because the Government cannot handle it.

A scapegoat.

It is just to placate Labour.

Were the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance aware that the letters were issuing from Revenue? That is all I have asked.

Through the Chair.

If Deputy Healy-Rae refers to the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners as a scapegoat, that is an insult. Deputy Healy-Rae should withdraw that remark.

It is the Taoiseach who is insulting them. The Revenue is a scapegoat. I will not withdraw it.

The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners will appear before the Oireachtas committee on Thursday and will deal with all of these matters-----

She has been undermined by the Tánaiste already, by the way.

-----in so far as the Revenue Commissioners are completely independent of Government. As Deputy Martin will be aware, the Government sets out tax policy and that is implemented by the Revenue Commissioners.

It is all under control. There is no problem at all.

I hope that everybody will fully understand on Thursday what is involved here.

It is the Tánaiste and the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform who need to understand.

Will the Tánaiste come to the meeting so that he can hear?

In fairness to Deputy Rabbitte, he gets it.

Let in the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, he will understand it.

He is happy out with the whole matter.

When he hears it the second time.

What is involved is payment of the property tax in 2014, effective from 1 January 2014. For all of those retailers who were saying we would take serious money out of consumers' pockets before Christmas, this is not required at all.

So the cheque will not be cashed.

Nobody is required to pay the property tax before Christmas.

Were the Taoiseach or the Minister for Finance aware that the letters were issuing?

I call Deputy Adams.

I asked the Taoiseach a question.

I call Deputy Adams.

Three times I asked the question and for some reason, I got no answer.

Three times Deputy Martin's party had this country broke.

Deputy Durkan will not solve it.

Will Deputy Martin resume his seat? I am not responsible for the replies given.

Was the Taoiseach aware or not-----

Please resume your seat, Deputy. I call Deputy Adams.

-----of the issuing of the letters?

Sit down, please.

I ask for a yes-or-no answer.

Mar a duirt an Teachta Martin, le laethanta beaga anuas tá neart daoine ag léiriú a gcuid mearbhaill i leith an cháin mhaoine áitiúil. Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach gurb í sin an fhírinne. Tá saoránaigh trasna an Stáit faoi a lán brú faoi láthair. Go háirithe, elderly citizens and those who are struggling financially are in a state of distress after receiving letters from the Revenue Commissioners demanding payment of the 2014 property tax bill - the very unjust family home tax - by the end of this month. That is a fact. Contrary to the Taoiseach's protestations, that is what is in the letter. The Revenue Commissioners have reportedly issued 960,000 of these letters. The Tánaiste has said that the Revenue needs to reconsider the payment deadline. I am a huge fan of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, and I marvel at his communications skills and his intellectual ability, but he has confessed that he cannot explain the Revenue letter. An Teachta Martin makes the case that this policy is wrong because it was rushed; the policy is wrong because it is wrong. It is totally and absolutely unfair. The Taoiseach misses the point if he avoids the issue of this very unfair property tax. It is unfair to ask people to pay next year's tax this year but it is also unfair to ask people to pay tax on their family homes and get no return for it in terms of local services. The fundamental unfairness is rooted in his Government's austerity policy. I also wish to give the Taoiseach the opportunity to answer the question he failed to answer earlier. Was the Taoiseach or the Minister for Finance aware that the Revenue Commissioners were going to demand that those who have to pay or who choose to pay this tax by debit card or credit card pay it this year? That is a very straightforward question. Was the Taoiseach or the Minister for Finance aware that citizens who wished to pay by credit or debit card would be asked to pay this year?

Sílim ar dtús go bhfuil sé thar a bheith drochbhéasach don Teachta-----

Cén fáth?

-----bheith chomh pátrúnach is atá sé faoi mhuintir shinsearach na hÉireann. Tá siad ag fáil litreacha le fada an lá, ní hamháin ón tír seo ach ó thíortha thar lear freisin. Tá a fhios acu go maith - an chuid is mó acu, go deimhin - céard atá i gceist anseo. Mar cheannaire ar Shinn Féin, níor chóir dó a rá nach dtuigeann siad céard atá i gceist.

Tá mé á rá sin.

Tá daoine nach dtuigeann é.

Bhí a fhios agam go maith go raibh cuid de mhuintir na tíre tar éis an cáin seo ar fad a íoc i mbliana trí chóras áirithe.

Is cáin mícheart í.

Bhí a fhios agam freisin go raibh sé mar dhualgas ar na Coimisinéirí Ioncaim litir a chur chuig daoine ag rá leo, toisc go ndearna siad íocaíocht áirithe i mbliana, gur chóir dóibh comhairle a thabhairt do na Coimisinéirí Ioncaim faoin sórt íocaíocht ar mhiste leo a dhéanamh an bhliain seo chugainn. Bhí sé sin i gceist sa litir a chuir na coimisinéirí chuig na mílte daoine le déanaí.

Cad a bhí scríofa sa litir? An bhfuil an Taoiseach críochnaithe?

Níl mé críochnaithe. What I was trying to say to Deputy Adams-----

I know what the Taoiseach was saying.

-----I know there is a little difríocht sa tuiscint idir his Gaeilge and mine-----

Tá mo chuid Gaeilge soiléir.

-----but I was well aware that the Revenue Commissioners had sent the letters to people who were not on direct debits and for whom there would be no change in the system because those payments would continue. It was necessary for the Revenue Commissioners, in their independence, to remind people that the 2014 property tax is due and due only in 2014. There was no intention - as has been said in some quarters - to execute some sort of Government money-grab before the end of 2013. The Minister for Finance has made it perfectly clear that the preference of the Department of Finance and of the Government is to have a steady stream of income through 2014. The seven options set out in the letter from the Revenue Commissioners allow people to do that. I will repeat for Deputy Adams, as I did for Deputy Martin, that payment of the 2014 property tax is due from 1 January 2014 only and can be spread out in a variety of ways or by single debit mandate effective from 21 March 2014. Again, I thank all those people who paid their property taxes in 2013 for the half year in a variety of ways. All the Revenue Commissioners have said is that they have asked people to let them know which payment option is being chosen, which will allow payment of the property tax in 2014.

That is not a true representation.

What does Deputy Dooley mean by saying it is not true?

I call Deputy Adams, please. It is not Deputy Dooley's question. This is Leaders' Questions.

It is hard to take.

Go outside the door if you do not wish to take it, Deputy Dooley.

Let me be the first to acknowledge that the Taoiseach is níos líofa ná mise sa Ghaeilge. Tá a chuid Gaeilge an-mhaith, ach ní hé sin an t-aon difear idir mise agus an Taoiseach.

Ní haon locht ar an Teachta é sin.

Fan. Tá mise soiléir, ach níl an Taoiseach soiléir i mBéarla nó i nGaeilge. I put a very direct question to the Taoiseach. If I understand his answer - when we eventually got around to it - he said he was aware that the letter would be sent to those not paying by direct debit. Therefore, he did know. He was aware that the letter was going to go out to 960,000 citizens demanding that they pay the tax before the end of the year, because that is what it says in the letter. This is a very controversial issue. The Taoiseach may think it is done and dusted, but this is a very controversial tax. It is a very blunt, unjust and unfair revenue-raising exercise.

What about rates in Northern Ireland?

Please refrain from any comment, Minister.

The issue with rates in the North is that people get services for those rates. When this was introduced the Taoiseach promised that 80% of the money collected through the property tax would go to support local services. Last week he reneged on that promise. People will not get any benefit in local services by paying this very unfair tax. This is the first admission that the Taoiseach knew this. Did the Tánaiste not know it? Did the Tánaiste not see the letter? Did the Tánaiste not know what was coming? Why did the Tánaiste then ask for the deadline to be relaxed? Why has the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, a member of a Government party, called the Revenue Commissioners in to explain all of this? This is the Taoiseach's law and his tax. Once again, it is austerity, austerity, austerity. I ask the Taoiseach for a yes-or-no answer. Will he not now acknowledge that austerity is designed to run down wages, to do away with social protections, to do away with the social and economic rights of citizens? Will he not now accept that austerity is wrong, unjust and unfair?

We are discussing property tax.

Let me say this in English, in case people get the wrong impression. I have no view at all about the quality of Deputy Adams's Irish. It would be wrong of me to suggest that. I have always respected the fact that Deputy Adams speaks Gaeilge anseo. Sometimes he uses a different inflection and different words. That is the canúintí and it has been so since long before we were ever on the scene.

I have a problem with the Taoiseach's English.

The letters sent out by the Revenue Commissioners are drafted and prepared by the Revenue Commissioners, which are completely independent of Government. Everyone was aware that when the property tax was introduced this year it was introduced for a half year and would apply for the full year in 2014.

Many decided to pay the property tax in 2013 by way of direct debit or a lump sum. The letters sent from the Revenue Commissioners to property owners were only sent to those who did not have a direct debit system in place. All that is required of anybody who received the letter-----

That is not true. We are talking about six out of every ten people who did not do it that way. That is being dishonest.

-----is to notify the Revenue Commissioners of the option he or she is choosing to pay the tax in 2014. There are two dates involved. The first is relevant if a person decides to respond through the postal system. He or she must notify the Revenue Commissioners by 7 November of the option that suits best. If a person notifies the Revenue Commissioners online, the relevant date is 27 November. As the letter indicates: "You may pay your LPT on a phased basis with effect from January 2014 using the following options...". The options are outlined. The letter only went to those who did not have a direct payment system in place.

That is six out of every ten people.

A majority.

It is merely an opportunity for the Revenue Commissioners to remind people of all the options to pay the tax in 2014.

It is more than a reminder. It is telling them that if they pay by credit card, they will pay this year. Be honest about it.

The Deputy had his turn.

It is terribly dishonest.

Nobody has a legal or other obligation to pay the tax due in 2014 in 2013, although people may do so, if they wish.

It states-----

That is a choice.

Tell the Tánaiste that.

If a self-employed person were to indicate that he or she would like to pay all of the tax owed in 2014 now, I am sure it would be accepted by the Revenue Commissioners. The requirement is to be met in 2014 only and there are seven options set out by the Revenue Commissioners.

This is a surreal conversation.

It is.

That is coming from the party's former banking expert.

We are over time.

We have a resident expert at the back.

Under pressure.

I hope that when the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners speaks to the Oireachtas committee which has Opposition members-----

Come on.

The Taoiseach is undermining her position.

-----what is involved will become crystal clear.

The Taoiseach is over time. He should adhere to the Chair's rulings.

The Tánaiste and the committee Chairman decided that she should come. It is a smokescreen.

They are not listening.

We would not undermine the constitutional position of the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners.

They are playing politics with the Revenue Commissioners.

I suppose those opposite favoured the property tax and then moved away from it. They had the country screwed in so many ways because of incompetence for so many years.

We would not undermine the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners.

It ill behoves them to start speaking now about these matters. In reply to Deputy Gerry Adams, the tax is due in 2014 and there are a range of options available.

The Taoiseach does not know what he is talking about.

I hope that after Thursday's engagement between Members and the representatives of the Revenue Commissioners, it will be crystal clear-----

The Taoiseach wants her to solve a political crisis between Fine Gael and the Labour Party. That is unfair.

-----that the payment is due in 2014 and there are options to pay. I thank all of those around the country who have paid the property tax in 2013-----

People are not thanking the Government. It is a banker's tax and should be abolished.

-----and those who will choose the best option for themselves in 2014.

Nobody will thank the Taoiseach for his answers today.

This applies to everybody in the House. If I ask Members to wind up a contribution, I expect them to do so. I am doing this because I am adhering to Standing Orders. I ask Members to adhere to such a direction in the future.