Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Income tax from self-assessed returns amounts to approximately €1 billion. There could be a variation from forecasts of 15%, amounting to €150 million. This is 0.4% of total tax revenue and, in the context of a budget, it is around the margin of error. It is not significant enough to warrant the enormous destruction and risks outlined in the submission during the formal process and again today. The most important point to take away from today is that the Department of Finance statement is a victory but only a temporary stay of execution. We have no absolute certainty about the arrangements for next year. For the members of the Irish Tax Institute and other professionals providing taxation advice and services and for the businesses, they need certainty over a longer period of time. The witnesses should go back to the Minister with that point of view and maintain the pressure to get a final decision.

The decision to bring the budget forward to mid-October was a Government decision even if it flowed from the two-pack. The legal requirement was that a draft budget be given to the European Commission by mid-October. The Irish Government decided to bring the whole thing forward and have the publication of the budget in mid-October. It is incumbent to work with the stakeholders to deal with this issue and the risks on the Government part in sticking with the current regime, which works well, is minimal. It is not worth making any changes because we are risking the whole functioning of the system.