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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 26 Jan 1994

Vol. 437 No. 6

Financial Resolutions, 1994. - Financial Resolution No. 7: Excise — Hydrocarbons.

: I move Financial Resolution No. 7:

(1) THAT in this Resolution—

"the Act of 1992" means the Finance Act, 1992 (No. 9 of 1992);

"the Order of 1975" means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975).

(2) THAT the duty of excise on mineral hydrocarbon light oil imposed by paragraph 11 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall, in lieu of the rate specified in section 150 (1) of the Act of 1992, be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 27th day of January, 1994, at the rate of £299.39 per 1,000 litres.

(3) THAT for the purposes of the rebate of duty on mineral hydrocarbon light oil provided for in section 56 (3) of the Finance Act, 1988 (No. 12 of 1988), section 89 of the Finance Act, 1990 (No. 10 of 1990), shall apply as on and from the 27th day of January, 1994, as if the reference therein to section 40 (1) of the Finance Act, 1989 (No. 10 of 1989), which, by virtue of section 150 (2) of the Act of 1992, is construed as a reference to section 150 (1) of the Act of 1992, were instead a reference to paragraph (2) of this Resolution.

(4) THAT the duty of excise on hydrocarbon oil imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall, in lieu of the rate specified in section 56 (4) of the Finance Act, 1988, be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 27th day of January, 1994, at the rate of £235.49 per 1,000 litres.

(5) THAT subject to the provisions of the Imposition of Duties (No. 265) (Excise Duty on Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1983 (S.I. No. 126 of 1983), the amount of the rebate allowed under paragraph 12 (3) of the Order of 1975 shall, in respect of fuel oil within the meaning of paragraph 3 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 256) (Excise Duty on Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1981 (S.I. No. 404 of 1981), which is imported or delivered from the premises of a refiner of hydrocarbon oil or from a tax warehouse on or after the 27th day of January, 1994, and in lieu of the rate specified in section 69 (1) of the Finance Act, 1993 (No. 13 of 1993), be the amount of duty chargeable less an amount calculated at the rate of £10.60 per 1,000 litres.

(6) THAT the duty of excise on used hydrocarbon oil imposed by Regulation 24 (2) (a) of the European Communities (Customs and Excise) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 394 of 1992), shall not be charged or levied on or after the 27th day of January, 1994.

(7) IT is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

This Resolution provides for an excise duty increase on petrol which, when VAT is included, amounts to one and a half pence on a litre or less than seven pence on a gallon; an excise duty increase in auto diesel which, when VAT is included, amounts to one and a half pence per litre or less than seven pence per gallon; an excise duty increase of 85 pence for 1,000 litres of industrial fuel oil and the abolition of the excise duty on waste oil which has been recycled for use as fuel for industrial purposes, with effect from midnight tonight.

Last week I had a very pleasant luncheon with members of the motor industry who were very hopeful that the Minister would favourably consider their plight. While they have to be thankful for small mercies, their gratitude will be somewhat perfunctory as the devastation which has been caused to the motor industry and the collapse of morale in that sector are quite startling.

The figures speak for themselves — last year new car sales were down. Car sales peaked in the early 1980s, fell, recovered and peaked again in 1989. It now pays people from the Republic to buy second-hand cars in the North or the UK and import them. The ironic aspect of this is that, on a pre-tax basis, the cheapest cars in Europe are in Ireland. The problem is that the Government slaps VRT, which was 25 per cent, and VAT on the basic price of cars, thus increasing it by 67 per cent.

I wish to outline why cars are cheaper in Britain. After depreciation, there is approximately £1,000 of a difference between a three year old car in Ireland and Britain even though it may originally have cost £12,000 to buy in Ireland and £9,000 to buy in Britain. The most important point in all this — I should like the Minister to address this point about which I was unaware until the motor industry pointed it out to me and makes eminent good sense — is that a person who buys a second-hand car in Northern Ireland or the UK pays the 17.5 per cent rate of VAT to the garage or the person from whom they are buying it. When he declares the car here and gets proper number plates he does not pay VAT, he just pays the VRT. This means the Government is losing the revenue from the VAT, which is going to the inland revenue in the UK.

There would be more buoyancy in this sector in terms of extra VAT receipts and new car sales if the Minister reduced the rate of VRT. The 2.5 per cent change proposed by the Minister is marginal.

It is negligible.

As I said earlier today, there is nothing in the budget in regard to benefit-in-kind. Will the Minister clarify whether Ministers pay benefit-in-kind in regard to their transport arrangements?

A Deputy

It is a matter which will never worry the Deputy.

People in the public sector, including TDs, are paid for travel on a mileage basis.

The Deputy should lift the debate, the party image and get up the percentages in the polls.

I appreciate the advice of the Minister for the Environment but yesterday afternoon I met the Sales Representatives' Union and its members outlined the changes in the 1992 budget. If one is on a certain mileage one is required to pay up to 30 per cent of the purchase price of the car. This will increase by 5 per cent per year between now and 1997 and, as one sales representative pointed out, the value of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress pay increases to him was £150 but because he was moving to a higher notch on the benefit-in-kind table he would lose £180. He is now pleading with his employer to come to a different arrangement.

People are losing out in several ways. Fewer companies are buying new cars because they are making a separate mileage arrangement and, therefore, the VRT and VAT is lost on new car sales. In addition, people are claiming benefit-in-kind on a car with a lower value, they are buying second-hand cars instead. Therefore, the yield from benefit-in-kind is going down.

A very convincing case has been made by the motor industry, 10,500 people are employed in the motor components, industry. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, should not forget that in Wexford, there is a very substantial industry in Renault which is now operating on short time. The large multinationals considering their components supply are asking which of the countries in Europe in which they locate are in favour of the motor industry and which has a tax regime that supports it. When they consider Ireland and see that we are the only country in Europe with a vehicle registration tax and the highest taxes in Europe, General Motors or Renault will say that Ireland should be the first for the chop, which will result in further job losses.

I am very concerned about second-hand car imports and I should like to give advice to the Minister for the Environment. We do not have an MOT in this country and cars that failed that test in Northern Ireland are now being dumped here. We are the scrapyard of Europe.

I have information for the Deputy. Some of his colleagues are going around the country trying to dissuade people from buying old cars, let us open up the debate.

Is the Minister introducing an MOT?

Yes, I will, but I will have no support from Fine Gael when I do.

The Minister will have my full support. It could not be introduced quickly enough.

I am glad to have the Deputy's support.

I am opposed to Ireland becoming a dumping ground for cars that have failed the MOT in the UK and Northern Ireland because we will have a demoralised sector and the gap will be so great between second-hand and new cars that people will be unable to trade in.

This sector requires special treatment as excise duties in total were down by £40 million.

They are down everywhere.

No, they are not. They were up in every other tax. VAT was up——

Look around Europe and the Deputy will find——

Car sales.

I am sorry, I thought the Taoiseach was saying that other taxes were down. That is true but, as the Taoiseach always likes to argue, we have the best fundamentals so we cannot be following Europe.

And we are not high spending. If the Deputy was here ten minutes ago I would have told him the truth about that also.

I will debate that with the Taoiseach any time.

The lowest in Europe.

The lowest spending in Europe?

Yes, as a percentage of expenditure of GDP, we are the single lowest of the Twelve, 42 per cent. Germany is 52 per cent and Denmark 62 per cent. The Deputy is getting terrible advice.

Deputy Yates without interruption, please.

In regard to tax take of GNP, the Taoiseach has responsibility for statistics. We collect approximately 6 or 7 per cent of GNP through PRSI and that is not included in the Exchequer returns. On the day the Exchequer returns were published I contacted the Minister's office, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare but no one knew what the PRSI returns for 1993 were.

They are not a tax, they are the social contribution fund.

They should be put in tax.

When the last Fine Gael Minister for Finance stood here his total tax take was higher——

The Taoiseach should be looking to the next Fine Gael Minister for Finance.

The Deputy should get his facts right.

Will the Deputy keep to the point?

Petrol is being increased by 7p per gallon — the Government has tried to minimise it by pricing it per litre. The little respite that the cross-Border garages were getting with the reversal of the flow of traffic and people using their petrol pumps has now been set at nought. This is a short-sighted measure and, as I pointed out earlier, if the currency movements go in a different direction, petrol prices will increase and the Minister will be unable to give back the excise duty he raised today. We will oppose both resolutions.

Deputy Yates thanked a Deputy for interrupting him and I can understand the reason. He has such an appalling case to make that he needed all the help he could get. When one looks at the standing of the Opposition in opinion polls and then listens to the contributions made by it tonight, one can understand its pathetic standing.

The Deputy should throw his hat into the ring. He should have courage.

They are scratching to try to find a cause. I have been a Member of this House for a long time and I have heard many cases made but it is difficult to listen to the Opposition spokesman criticising Financial Resolution No. 6 which substitutes "29.25 per cent" for "31.8 per cent", a reduction.

In debating an earlier resolution Democratic Left was concerned about the lady earning £60 per week who would be dreadfully upset because the price of her bottle of wine would increase by 10p. It is indeed novel to hear that party worrying about the price of wine.

The Minister must be congratulated on the provisions of this budget. It is a job creation budget and no sector will see that more than the motor industry. It has lobbied all Members of this House in relation to job creation, to doing something to help it in its plight resulting from imports and the Minister has brought forward measures which are estimated will cost £21 million in 1994. This should enable price reductions in excess of 3 per cent to be made across the entire new car market and the cost of a £12,000 car should fall by approximately £400.

The Deputy is admitting they were crucified.

This will help the motor trade. I listened to Deputy Yates and I know he has a job to do but he could have done it better. In regard to the question of motor cars for business purposes, Deputy Yates referred to benefit-in-kind.

He has his boot on their necks.

In the course of his Budget Statement the Minister said he will increase the threshold immediately from £13,000 to £14,000 in the 1995 budget in relation to business cars with a view to making any final adjustment necessary in the 1996 budget to align the threshold with the average cost of a standard 1.6 litre car. It should be remembered that that increase in the threshold from £10,000 to £13,000 will cost £400,000 in 1994 and in the full year, 1996, £9 million. Therefore, it will be seen clearly that the Minister and Government have done everything possible to help the motor industry this year.

When I listen to a member of the Fine Gael Party talk about an increase in petrol prices — probably because I have been a Member of this House for many years — I recall sitting on the far side, about three rows behind Deputy Yates, when former Deputy Richie Ryan, then Minister for Finance, introduced a budget in this House pointing out that they had to implement a dramatic increase in petrol because it was all seeping across the Border, that the amounts involved were appalling. That is nonsense. I really sympathise with Deputy Yates this evening; he has a difficult task endeavouring to criticise this budget.

This budget is deserving of every support by Members of this House. To criticise a reduction in vehicle registration tax takes classic neck, and Deputy Yates demonstrated that here this evening. To try and involve the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Deputy Brown, his constituency colleague, was really beneath him. It was unworthy of Deputy Yates to endeavour to do that because the Minister of State is well able to defend his corner and will be very pleased with this reduction and the help it will give his constituents.

I take it as a compliment to be accused of having a hard neck by Deputy Burke.

I want to revert to the Democratic Left. In my years here I have listened to some beauties but Deputy Gilmore's contribution earlier, his cry from the heart, was something to bring a tear to the eye, as we pictured the woman about whom he spoke with £60 a week income, with her mug of coffee; I felt that to complete the picture she should have had a cigarette and a half untidy table, with some wine waiter, during the morning break, coming in with the wine list asking — with her £60 a week and her cup of coffee and cigarette — what wine she will have, but adding that she must remember that it has gone up by 10p this week.

Would the Deputy please adhere to Financial Resolutions Nos. 6 and 7?

That is indeed a picture to behold of the Democratic Left. I know of many people who, for their own misguided reasons, vote for Democratic Left but I would be very surprised if the foremost thought in their minds, in putting the cross against the Democratic Left name, was the 10p increase on the bottle of wine. It says something about Democratic Left since they are no longer with us as The Workers' Party. Not only have we gone from all of that, but we have come to the 10p increase on a bottle of wine.

This item has already been dealt with.

It is a wonderful sight on which I congratulate them.

I really enjoyed Deputy Ray Burke's contribution this evening. Indeed, it may surprise the Deputy to know that the wine drinking population is not confined to the Kinsealys of North County Dublin but that they also drink wine in Finglas South and West, even in places like Ballybrack.

This small country is going to fall down for 10p on a bottle of wine — financial rectitude out the door.

I think Deputy Ray Burke has been demonstrating his sort of inverted snobbery here this evening.

I suppose Deputy Burke's contribution exemplifies the fact that the type of debate in which we engage after the statements made on the budget in the earlier part of the day bear very little relationship to what is being paroposed in the budget. The Government selects five resolutions relating mainly to matters that must be passed by this House by midnight in relation to excise, VAT and so on and we are expected to speak about these matters — excise duties, the price of petrol, beer, cigarettes, etc. This is very much the traditional approach to the debate on the budget. That is a mistake. I am sure we would have a much greater attendance if we were actually speaking about the meat of the budget, giving Deputies a free hand to intervene at will, as we can here this evening, to discuss the budget.

Perhaps next year this Government — who I presume will still be in office unless there is a break up between the Fianna Fáil and Labour Parties, although there is very little sign of that happening at present; the Labour Party seem to have been taken on board totally by Fianna Fail; "suckered" I think would be the term that would be used in areas I represent — it would be my hope that the session from the end of the statements to midnight will actually address some of the real issues raised in that budget itself.

I want to refer briefly to vehicle registration tax. As a car driver, as someone who does most of his travelling by car, it is a good idea to reduce the vehicle registration tax. I know very many more people would be driving new cars but for the fact that we have such high prices for new cars in this State. If this is to be taken as an indication of a trend, I very much welcome it.

However, we need to examine this trend within the context of the type of environment we want, that that consideration should be linked in some way to the fuel efficiency of cars, and the types of materials used in their manufacture. We must remember that, by and large, non-renewable resources are used in their manufacture and fuelling. We must encourage so far as we can, at home and at European level, a switch to the use of renewable resources for these purposes. I make that point as a caveat to the vehicle registration tax.

I know very many people were disappointed because it had been anticipated that we would have been getting cars at European prices but this did not happen. When excise duties were banned by the European Community, they were replaced here by vehicle registration tax. I understand the necessity for Government to endeavour to retain the tax yielded in that manner but there is need for a much more realistic look at the motor trade and the travelling public in general.

I predict there will be a certain degree of disappointment at the proposed increase in petrol prices because in recent times we benefited from a significant decrease, very noticeable at petrol pumps. Very few people nowadays buy two gallons or X litres of petrol; they buy £5, £10 or £20 worth. I have noticed that a full tank costs in the region of £5 or £6 less now than it did, say, a year ago. There has been a significant decrease in the price of petrol. I appreciate that an extra 1.5p on a litre of petrol is not a huge increase but it will be a disappointment to people who have finally begun to benefit from the price reduction on the world market because during the seventies and eighties we experienced huge increases in the price of petrol and home heating oil. I do not see this as a make or break issue however.

I will be voting against these resolutions as I will be voting against the budget. The reason I am voting against the budget has more to do with the report issued by the National Economic and Social Forum, which I found in my pigeon hole today. It came together with a statement by the Government dated yesterday which states that the Government welcomes this report from the National Economic and Social Forum and will take the views of the forum into account in the implementation of its commitment in the Programme for Government. The report will also be brought to the attention of the social partners in the contest of negotiations now under way on a new national agreement. A press statement from the National Economic and Social Forum was also attached but, curiously, that was dated today. It is curious that the Government's press statement was dated yesterday but the National Economic and Social Forum press statement is dated today. Its press statement draws attention to the fact that there is an urgent necessity to deal with poverty in Irish society. The question of an additional 1.5p on the litre of petrol or the reduction of £400 on a family car does not, in my view, deal with the question of poverty. I have read the executive summary provided with the document which sets out 13 recommendations, 12 of which have been totally ignored and only one has been considered. Their recommendation that a substantial means disregard should be introduced into the carer's allowance is the only one the Government has taken on board. In the budget we got a commitment that there will be flexibility in the means testing for the carer's allowance.

A plethora of committees, organisations and so on have produced very fine reports on how we should deal with poverty, unemployment, etc., but this budget, which was to start the assault on poverty, has ignored the recommendations of the National Economic and Social Forum.

A number of Members offering so I will ask Deputies to be brief.

As a Deputy representing a Border constituency there is nothing in the budget for which I have to thank the Minister. Indeed, given the increase in the price of cigarettes the Minister is about to close down P. J. Carrolls and Company in Dundalk. At some stage we may invite the Minister to close the factory formally. This factory gives worthwhile employment in Dundalk but the fate of those employed at the plant has been sealed.

The business people in all the Border towns have suffered. The Sunday Independent published an aerial photograph taken from a helicopter of cars in a crocodile three miles long travelling to El Dorado — Newry. Mercifully, we had an interlude in the past year but I believe the steps the Minister has taken today will ensure that this travelling across the Border will start again. An extra 7p on a gallon of petrol will encourage people to fill their tanks when they cross the Border to buy drink, the price of which has also been increased here. I believe the significant smuggling trade will recommence.

In recent years Governments — my party in Government was no exception — turned a blind eye to the difficulties in the Border region. The Border counties were expendable because the Government was able to raise sufficient revenue in the remaining 20 countries. Petrol stations and garages were decimated by the effect of taxation — there were instances of cars being pushed into the filling station in Dundalk for 25p worth of petrol, enough to get them to the promised land. A fluctuation in the currency will further exacerbate the situation. If people get into the pattern of crossing the Border to buy petrol, they will buy not only petrol but drink and the weekly shopping. That will hit the economy of the Border counties.

The economic policies pursued by all Governments in the past ten or 11 years has made the Border counties an economic wasteland. I had hoped the Minister would attempt to bolster business activity in my area but the decision to increase the price of petrol by 7p a gallon will not help. I wonder if the increase in the tax on cigarettes together with the increase in the price of petrol is the reason the two Fianna Fáil Deputies from my constituency did not contribute to the debate this evening.

I congratulate the Minister on bringing forward this budget. There is much joy in it for my constituents. Mallow has been given urban renewal status and this is a major step forward for one of the larger towns in County Cork.

What has that to do with Resolutions Nos. 6 and 7?

The Minister has shown enterprise. There is no harm in him bringing forward a budget that shows enterprise and development, the like of which the country has never seen in my 12 years in the Dáil. We are poised for growth and development.

There will be a 3 per cent reduction in the cost of the family saloon car. This is a very welcome development. This will be an incentive for people to change their cars, a step in the right direction. This measure will cost approximately £21 million. This is proof that the Exchequer is in a healthy state. This will be good news for people throughout the country and will benefit people in the farming and business communities.

Provision is being made for a major improvement of the county roads and money from the tax amnesty will be allocated for this purpose. Opposition Deputies, especially the right wing opposition, criticised the measures to give effect to the tax amnesty when they came before the House in late autumn. This amnesty has proved its worth. The criticism of the Minister was unbelievable. We heard about cheats but we know who was cheated during the week in the Cork area in another party.

What has that got to do with the Financial Resolutions?

We must give recognition to what all this is worth. Much good has come from the amnesty. I welcomed it at the time, despite much criticism. This budget takes the right direction. We have had crocodile tears about a 7p increase in the price of petrol. Have we taken any account of or given any recognition to the fact that the base price of petrol is the lowest in more than 30 years? Can we not give something back to the economy? Motorists who buy petrol have no difficulty in giving that amount of tax as they recognise that the State is entitled to some contribution. Petrol is cheaper than it has been for the past 30 years. Even if some tax is imposed I have no doubt that my constituents will have little difficulty with it. I cannot understand Members on the other side calling for divisions because they have been calling——

The Deputy must have hallucinations. There is something wrong with him. Does he mean to tell me that the farmers of east Cork would like to pay an increase of 7p for petrol because the Minister asked them?

Deputy O'Keeffe to continue, without interruption.

Under the capital acquisitions tax regime we have, for the first time, given recognition to the farming community in the transfer of land and we have recognised the difficulties posed by the probate tax. Fine Gael was the first party to introduce farmer taxation many years ago under a former Minister for Finance, Mr. Richie Ryan. Deputy Carey should remember that when he goes back to County Clare. He is great at reminding this side of the House of our problems. We do not have the same difficulties as the Deputy. This budget will help the economy to grow. I congratulate the Minister very sincerely on his determined efforts in working for the betterment of this economy.

I am calling Deputy Blaney. I think the Minister will require a moment to respond. Three minutes of the time allotted now remain before I must put the question.

I am very disappointed with the increase in the price of petrol, despite what my colleague, Deputy O'Keeffe, has just said. I go along with the views expressed by Deputy McGahon in regard to the forgotten six counties on the southern rim of the Border. From the early 1980s right up to the past year we were devastated because the differential in petrol prices brought a knock-on effect that resulted in the closure of many of our Border businesses, both small and large, and drove some people to suicide. This is no joke.

When we have the opportunity to get something back of what we lost during the past ten or 12 years the Minister, in his wisdom, decides that an increase in petrol prices, which are higher than in the North, is fair and reasonable. It is a sad disappointment for the entire Border community that this has been done. If he realised the impact which the differential in petrol prices had during the 1980s, when it was almost 30p per gallon, he would not ignore the fact that we have a special problem in counties south of the Border. This was an opportunity for a revival of the businesses that have closed down and have been devastated by cross-Border trade, largely led by petrol price differentials.

While an increase of 10p per bottle of wine, as Deputy Ray Burke has said, is not a calamity and is not a concern on the general run of people, similar increases have been made over the years. That increase is added to the increases on beer and liquor on the basis that the publicans were ripping off their customers. If that is so, why not introduce price control? Surely this is using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

I ask the Deputy to conclude as I must now put the question.

The increases in beer, liquor, wine and petrol have merely confirmed the devastation of business in the Border counties which has suffered so much without support or recognition from any Dublin Government since the day partition was instituted. The whole problem appears to be north of the Border but there is also a problem south of the Border. I am sorry the Minister missed the opportunity of getting things back on beam again.

As it is now 11.45 p.m. I am required to put the following question in accordance with an order of the Dáil of this day: "That Financial Resolutions Nos. 6 and 7 are hereby agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 86; Níl, 54.

  • Ahern, Bertie.
  • Ahern, Dermot.
  • Ahern, Michael.
  • Ahern, Noel.
  • Aylward, Liam.
  • Bhamjee, Moosajee.
  • Bhreathnach, Niamh.
  • Bree, Declan.
  • Brennan, Séamus.
  • Briscoe, Ben.
  • Broughan, Tommy.
  • Browne, John (Wexford).
  • Burke, Raphael P.
  • Burton, Joan.
  • Byrne, Hugh.
  • Flood, Chris.
  • Foley, Denis.
  • Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
  • Gallagher, Pat.
  • Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
  • Haughey, Seán.
  • Higgins, Michael D.
  • Hilliard, Colm M.
  • Howlin, Brendan.
  • Hughes, Séamus.
  • Hyland, Liam.
  • Kavanagh, Liam.
  • Kemmy, Jim.
  • Kenny, Seán.
  • Killeen, Tony.
  • Kirk, Séamus.
  • Kitt, Michael P.
  • Lawlor, Liam.
  • Leonard, Jimmy.
  • Martin, Micheál.
  • McCreevy, Charlie.
  • McDaid, James.
  • McDowell, Derek.
  • Moffatt, Tom.
  • Morley, P.J.
  • Moynihan, Donal.
  • Mulvihill, John.
  • Nolan, M.J.
  • Callely, Ivor.
  • Collins, Gerard.
  • Connolly, Ger.
  • Costello, Joe.
  • Coughlan, Mary.
  • Cowen, Brian.
  • Davern, Noel.
  • Dempsey, Noel.
  • de Valera, Síle.
  • Doherty, Seán.
  • Ellis, John.
  • Ferris, Michael.
  • Fitzgerald, Brian.
  • Fitzgerald, Eithne.
  • Fitzgerald, Liam.
  • Ó Cuív, Éamon.
  • O'Dea, Willie.
  • O'Donoghue, John.
  • O'Hanlon, Rory.
  • O'Keeffe, Batt.
  • O'Keeffe, Ned.
  • O'Leary, John.
  • O'Rourke, Mary.
  • O'Shea, Brian.
  • O'Sullivan, Toddy.
  • Penrose, William.
  • Power, Seán.
  • Quinn, Ruairí.
  • Reynolds, Albert.
  • Ryan, Eoin.
  • Ryan, John.
  • Ryan, Seán.
  • Shortall, Róisín.
  • Smith, Brendan.
  • Smith, Michael.
  • Stagg, Emmet.
  • Taylor, Mervyn.
  • Treacy, Noel.
  • Upton, Pat.
  • Wallace, Dan.
  • Wallace, Mary.
  • Walsh, Eamon.
  • Walsh, Joe.

Níl

  • Ahearn, Theresa.
  • Allen, Bernard.
  • Barrett, Seán.
  • Blaney, Neil T.
  • Boylan, Andrew.
  • Bradford, Paul.
  • Browne, John (Carlow-Kilkenny).
  • Bruton, John.
  • Bruton, Richard.
  • Carey, Donal.
  • Clohessy, Peadar.
  • Connaughton, Paul.
  • Connor, John.
  • Cox, Pat.
  • Crawford, Seymour.
  • Creed, Michael.
  • Crowley, Frank.
  • Cullen, Martin.
  • Currie, Austin.
  • Deasy, Austin.
  • Deenihan, Jimmy.
  • De Rossa, Proinsias.
  • Doyle, Avril.
  • Dukes, Alan M.
  • Durkan, Bernard J.
  • Finucane, Michael.
  • Fitzgerald, Frances.
  • Flanagan, Charles.
  • Foxe, Tom.
  • Harney, Mary.
  • Harte, Paddy.
  • Higgins, Jim.
  • Hogan, Philip.
  • Kenny, Enda.
  • Keogh, Helen.
  • Lowry, Michael.
  • McCormack, Pádraic.
  • McGahon, Brendan.
  • McGinley, Dinny.
  • McGrath, Paul.
  • McManus, Liz.
  • Mitchell, Gay.
  • Mitchell, Jim.
  • Molloy, Robert.
  • Nealon, Ted.
  • Noonan, Michael.
  • (Limerick East).
  • O'Donnell, Liz.
  • O'Keeffe, Jim.
  • Quill, Máirín.
  • Rabbitte, Pat.
  • Shatter, Alan.
  • Sheehan, P.J.
  • Timmins, Godfrey.
  • Yates, Ivan.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Dempsey and Ferris; Níl, Deputies E. Kenny and Boylan. Question declared carried.
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