Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This section of the Bill seeks to remove the tax relief on income from the management of woodlands from the list of reliefs that are subject to restrictions. Certain forms of income that relate to forestry, such as grants and premiums, are exempt from tax at present, but there are restrictions in place which seek to limit the ability of people on high incomes and high earners to avail of such tax breaks. One of the problems with the tax system in this country is that it is peppered with tax reliefs. I suggest that tax reliefs distort the progressive nature of the income tax base. Obviously, the purpose of a tax relief is to incentivise a certain type of behaviour which is considered to be in the common good. When tax reliefs are made available to extremely high earners, they have the effect of reducing significantly the tax liability of those people. In light of all the reasons we have previously discussed - many people are dying on the streets while others are struggling to get our crumbling health system to deliver health services to them - we would absolutely oppose the idea that a tax relief should be extended to high earners. At a time when many people, including hundreds of thousands of children, are living in extreme poverty, it is shocking to propose that the restrictions currently limiting the ability of high earners to avail of this tax relief should be withdrawn.