Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I intended to ask a few questions on that issue. Perhaps Dr. Donal de Buitléir might respond to the question of whether it is progressive, how it is and so on with regard to the points made by Mr. Cormac Staunton. I was wondering about the budget. I am not an economist, but to try to figure it out, I looked closely at the tables provided in which the effective rates of tax were considered. I could see the system was progressive if one took someone on €15,000 versus someone on €120,000. However, I thought those on €25,000 - in other words, the lower middle income group - were losing out. I invite the delegates to comment in this regard.

I saw a paper - I believe it was on the PublicPolicy.iewebsite - which mentioned that the gap between lower and middle income earners might be increasing, as opposed to between lower and top income earners. Am I incorrect? I read somewhere that there might be an issue in this regard. When one examines the last budget, proportionately those in the middle did the best. Those on incomes between €40,000 and €70,000 approximately were the ones who came out the best in how their tax position had improved if one went through the tables and appendices.

I was wondering about the SWITCH model because there was a debate over the weekend in some media outlets on whether the threshold was too low in the case of inheritance tax for children, a point on which I personally disagree. However, I recently tabled a parliamentary question and it appears as though the Exchequer has managed to maintain the level of capital taxes and that appears to be because the percentages and rates were increased, while the thresholds for inheritance tax were lowered. Does the SWITCH model now take this into account? The pension levy and pay cuts for public sector workers in the course of the recession were progressive in that the more one was paid, the bigger the percentage cut was, while caps were placed on public sector salaries. Is the fact that there is a high proportion of public sector workers in the economy factored into the issue in terms of outcomes?

My other question concerns the black economy. While I do not know how it compares with that in other countries, is it an issue for those on lower incomes? I refer, in particular, to the self-employed. Are there issues in this regard? Can they be investigated in any way or is it just something about which we know nothing?

I invite the delegates, starting with Dr. de Buitléir, to come back on as many of these questions as possible, including the question about progressivity.