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

We have returned into the area of fundamental differences and perspectives. For the record, I think the lack of economic literacy is on the part of the Minister and not on our part. It is worth mentioning, in the context of what has been said about consistency, that the Taoiseach once said he was "morally" opposed to putting taxes on the family home. There is a lack of consistency there because it has now become the only practical method of levying tax. Strangely, that was not the Taoiseach's view a few years ago. If we are talking about consistency, I must point out that we have been genuinely consistent, and will remain so, in saying that we think taxes on the family home, as against so-called property taxes, treat huge swathes of people unfairly. That is the substance of our argument and it should not be mischaracterised. The Minister's incentives are primarily directed at the wealthiest sections of society. We are talking about the top 5% or 10%. Such people are the beneficiaries of the Minister's incentives, by and large. We are not talking about people on €60,000, €70,000 or €80,000, who are described by the Minister as the middle class. Approximately 5% of earners earn over €100,000 a year. According to the replies to our questions that we have received from the Minister, the average income of such people is approximately €185,000. We are also talking about the super profits of a small number of multinational corporations that have benefited from how this country's tax system is set up.

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