Sir, – Forgive me if I have little or no faith in Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe's assurance that upcoming changes to the property tax will be "affordable" ("Donohoe indicates minimal change to property tax", News, April 15th).
The fact is that under the present rules, introduced by party colleague Michael Noonan, those who are acknowledged as not being able to afford the tax are not exempt from it.
Fine Gael simply does not do fairness when it comes to dealing with those living at or below the poverty line, and the fact that it introduced a tax with no “ability to pay” protection is clear evidence of that fact.
Mr Donohoe will merely tweak the rules to benefit the better-off and it will be nothing more than an exercise to secure the “leafy suburb” vote. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.