Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That might be a good idea. I very much liked Senator Crown's suggestion that he wants to contribute more of his income in tax. I will suggest in the morning to the Chairman of Revenue that she sits down with him immediately and works out between now and 31 December 2012 how much more of his substantial income he wishes to hand over to the taxpayer. We are all ears. There is nothing in the tax code preventing him from giving up more. I expect him to get a call in the morning.

There is near unanimity among all parties that the decision taken in 1977 to abolish a form of local taxation was crazy. We must learn the lesson. Of all taxes taken in, 42% comes from income tax, which is way out of kilter with other OECD countries. We must broaden the tax base over a period of years to avoid continuing to tax the hell out of people who are working. The way to encourage employment and address the problem of 450,000 people having no work is not to continually tax more and more people. This measure by the Government is a progressive tax. I agree with Senator Gilroy who did not know how parties of the left could argue against it. Those in larger properties in posher areas will pay more as a consequence.