Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I want to pick up on the last comment Professor Barrett made. I take his point on the political economy, which is to say "For goodness sake, do not give it away." Behavioural economics suggests that it is five times harder to put it back in again. I fully agree on that. Putting aside the political difficulty of raising taxes, does Ireland, in the opinion of the witnesses, need a higher quantum of taxation than it currently has to provide good-quality services and investment? I am not talking about the best, most expensive stuff in the world.