Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I would like to hear the opinions of the deputations on corporation tax. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Do the witnesses believe we should hold it or change it? I believe people overlook some of the facts. Some say the multinationals in this country are not paying enough tax. If they left the country we would have a cohort who would be unemployed and we would not have tax coming in from them. Furthermore, we would have to pay social welfare to those unemployed. People seem to overlook that every time they speak about the matter. No one seems to realise the dangers of what we are doing.

People can debate it if they wish, but I believe a major wedge has been driven into Irish society. There is great anti-social behaviour in Ireland in the sense of public versus private sectors and the self-employed versus the unemployed. Someone might say that it is all right for those in the public sector because they have a job and are not going to lose it. Others in the private sector maintain they have to pay everything but could lose their job in the morning. Some people who are employed maintain that those who are unemployed get everything and they get nothing. There has been an awful divide in Ireland over the recession. How can we bring that back to where we were? During the good times, people did not seem to care what other people were getting or what they were doing, but they do now. They look at everything; they look at what people have and what they are getting.

What is the view of the witnesses on how the self-employed fare in Ireland? Do they believe they are being excessively taxed? They do not have all the benefits that a PAYE worker has. I know they get a good deal for the 4% they pay in PRSI. We have discussed the matter at length. If we were to bring them into the PAYE system or the full benefit system, their PRSI contributions would go up to 15%. This would be a major blow to people, particularly the smaller self-employed people who are struggling from day to day to make ends meet. I am keen to hear the views of the witnesses on those points.