Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister of State is saying. There was an agreement to increase employers' PRSI in relation to State pensions. Research by SIPTU shows that increasing employers' PRSI to the EU average would provide an extra €10 billion, similar to what we spend on education each year.

The Nevin Institute has said the tax revenue from employees exceeds the EU average while employers are undertaxed. It went on to say that the Republic's low overall implicit tax rate on labour arises because employers in the Republic have an implicit tax rate of just 9.2% compared with 17% for the EU as a whole. Ireland sits 27th in Europe for employers' contributions to social insurance. We need to take a serious look at employers' PRSI contributions. We could use €10 billion for public services. It could be phased in with significant support for SMEs and still increase revenue receipts. It needs to be seriously looked at.

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