Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for the amendment. A substantial amount of analysis covering some of the groups the Deputies have outlined has already been published by the Department of Finance, or is due to be published in the coming months by Departments and other stakeholders. A very detailed distributional analysis was published by the Department of Finance in sections B.1 to B.26 of this year's budget. This analysis sets out the distributional impact of certain tax and welfare measures over a range of 13 income levels across six family types. The distributional analysis is complemented with a number of illustrative hypothetical case study families.

The Department of Social Protection will also publish a social impact assessment of budget 2015 using the ESRI's SWITCH model. It is expected this will be published in early 2015. It will be informed by current consideration by the Government of additional measures on the introduction of charging for water services. This social impact assessment will examine the effect of the budget across family types, income groups and economic status. It will also report on poverty indicators.

Current models available to the Government do not permit analysis of gender, marital status or disability. However, the Deputy may be aware that research by the ESRI indicates the budgets over the years from 2009 to 2013 did not have a significant differential impact on people based on gender. This reflects the fact that the tax and social welfare system does not discriminate based on gender. Further versions of the SWITCH model may include gender-based analysis. However, I am confident the reductions in income tax and increases in child benefit would not have a material impact on gender outcomes. It is not currently analytically possible in SWITCH to assist the impact of budgets on groups of people based on their marital or disability status. On the basis the analysis proposed in the amendment is already published or due to be published, and given the infeasibility of aspects of the amendment I do not intend to include it in the Finance Bill 2014.