I regret having to drag the Minister for Finance into this House tonight. I appreciate he has had an extremely difficult and busy day. Honourable man that he is, unfortunately he is the sufferer in this mad crazy tax package Fine Gael initiated in May last year. No doubt the Minister may have been one of those who contributed to the preparation of that outlandish document, but I have no doubt that being more sensible than many others, he would not have been the person who would push that type of proposal furthest.
Last Thursday I put down a question asking "the Minister for Finance the total cost of the £9.60 tax allowance for women in the home as promised in the Fine Gael Election Programme; when it will be introduced; and the groups of women who will benefit". The Minister's reply was linked with a question put down by Deputy Blaney. He said:
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 24 Together.
The essential principle underlying the proposed payment is that it is tax linked and involves a transfer of half the married tax credit to the spouse at home. The figure of £9.60 corresponds to one-half of the full credit. If this payment were increased, then the credit entitlement of the working spouse should logically be reduced pro rata. This, I consider, would be inappropriate.
Not one word in that reply answered my question; one would say it replied to Deputy Blaney's question. Will members of this Government continue to insult Deputies with that type of reply? The last sentence of the reply could be taken as making some effort to answer my question. The Minister said:
Details of the scheme are being finalised and I intend to make an announcement in the immediate future.
I said I was sure the advertisements would appear shortly in the newspapers but the Minister did not comment. Last Sunday the advertisements appeared in the papers. I did not hear all the Government's sponsored programme at lunch time last Sunday. I heard a number of Ministers but cannot say if the Minister for Finance contributed to that programme or appeared on television later that evening.