Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance

Finance Bill 2015: Committee Stage

4:00 pm

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's first comment was that in some ways the view on these matters depends on the overall view of society. In some ways it is a philosophical discussion that is probably wasted in this type of forum and dealing with this Bill. Just for the record, it is worth putting the alternative view.

The first issue is the immediacy of these measures. I do not see how anybody can justify giving anything to people earning in excess of €70,000, €100,000, €150,000 or €200,000 if it comes at the cost of being able to assist people now living in poverty in getting out of poverty. In other words, even if I accepted the Minister's philosophical view that we need to incentivise people at the top, and I will make a point about that later-----

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