Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The next module concludes today's engagement on pre-budget submissions. As I have told other witnesses that have appeared before the committee today, the purpose of this meeting is not to go into a detailed presentation of pre-budget submissions or for members to make statements. It is an opportunity to drill down to specific proposals contained in a submission, or to get a better insight into the thinking or rationale underpinning it. In some cases, we will try to ascertain if modelling has been done by individual organisations to see from where the information has been extrapolated.

I thank the various witnesses for attending the joint committee. They are Mr. Fergal O'Brien, chief economist, IBEC; Mr. Paul Sweeney, ICTU; Mr. Tom Geraghty, PSEU; and Mr. Roland O'Connell, president, Society of Chartered Surveyors.

I will get the ball rolling by putting a number of questions to IBEC and ICTU. IBEC's pre-budget submission suggests a grant or tax credit package to incentivise home improvement works during a three-year window of opportunity. Similar work has been done in Sweden and certain works are under consideration in Germany also. Does IBEC feel this would be effective if a property tax was simultaneously introduced, as home values would be factored in with this? IBEC's submission specifically states that it supports the private property tax. Can Mr. O'Brien clarify if that is a valuation-based property tax or is it a site valuation approach?

ICTU's proposal suggests a €3 billion three-year stimulus package. What industries does Mr. Sweeney think would be specifically targeted by this stimulus and what new jobs would be created if such a programme were put in place?

Section 5.7 of the ICTU proposal notes the support of congress for automatic enrolment in pensions. This ties into what Dr. Healy was saying earlier. Would this be a universal pension or something that citizens could opt in or out of? I would welcome greater detail on that proposal.

The ICTU submission also refers to a property tax. I would be grateful if Mr. Sweeney could expand further on this position. Is he proposing a banding of property taxes from €100,000 to €150,000 and from €150,000 to €200,000? Is that the type of model he is proposing?

I invite the IBEC representative, Mr. Fergal O'Brien to begin.