Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has raised a number of points. First, it is not the priority of the Government to reward the better off, but I am sure that is a debate we will continue to have during the consideration of this Finance Bill and it is one the Deputy had with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Noonan, last night. I do not accept that there is a loss of tax revenue to the State from this measure. The Deputy is correct that these are high paid individuals, but they are also very mobile. They can decide where they wish to locate. That is an issue that is mentioned when we talk to the IDA about trying to attract some of the most senior managers into the country. We want to get senior managers and executives to come here which will create more jobs and help the people the Minister, Deputy Noonan, spoke about when he used the phrase the "squeezed middle".

I will give the Deputy an example. If somebody on a salary of €500,000 decides to locate here under the new regime, they will have an effective tax rate of 35.37%. They will end up paying €177,000 in taxes that we would not otherwise get. I would take the Deputy's point if he was presuming those people are here anyway, but considering the SARP is trying to attract people here who are mobile, who can choose to go to other countries, they would not necessarily come here otherwise. The SARP is trying to attract high paid individuals to come here. The State can benefit from the tax revenue they pay here that they would not otherwise pay. This is something IDA Ireland and such bodies note when they try to attract talent into the country. We want to help the IDA convert its strong pipeline of potential investments into a reality. I think that is something to which we can all subscribe.