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

It always strikes me when we have these types of debates with the Government, the Government will say that if it were to introduce a higher marginal rate of tax people could possibly leave. One third of a million people left in the past six years as a direct result of the policies delivered. One in six Irish people lives abroad; one in four is between the ages of 20 and 30. Even though there was some positive news with regard to job figures today, that cohort is shrinking still. It is not a case that people leaving is a block on policy development, people are leaving as a result of the policies that have been implemented. Second, the level of capital investment in recent years has collapsed in the State. Even in the spring statement the Government seeks to introduce a further reduction up to 2020 in Government investment to much lower than the European average. It is well known that a level of investment down from 1.8% to 1.5% is not enough to maintain the capital stock in the State. Infrastructure such as roads, broadband and all the competitive advantages one would seek in a healthy economy to create jobs will not be maintained and competitive advantages will be lost. Therefore, the argument is that this is a tax on jobs and would prevent jobs being created in the future. The flipside is the truth because if the Government has the tax take it can invest in the capital infrastructures in order to have a competitive advantage in the future. Third, the Netherlands has a higher marginal rate of tax than Ireland. The Netherlands is the receiver of the most foreign direct investment in Europe, so there is not necessarily a correlation between marginal tax rates and foreign direct investment. It would have higher thresholds for that margin to be ascertained but that correlation does not exist. The arguments do not stack with regard to these types of taxes and their effects on job creation, investment and society. That is why I ask the Minister to reappraise his position.