Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Income from corporation tax was a couple of billion euro higher than anticipated. The amount of national debt we have to service is €4 billion lower than anticipated owing to the quantitative easing programme being pursued by the European Central Bank. I am criticising the position in which we find ourselves, rather than the Minister, when I point out that single earners start to pay 49.5% of their income in tax when their earnings reach €33,801. Taxpayers in all other EU countries do not move into the higher income tax bracket at anywhere near this low level. We are still talking about reducing taxes down and taking people out of the tax net.

While I appreciate the Minister's point that we must act slowly and incrementally, the changes in the national debt and corporation tax revenue were not envisaged in the budget for 2016. These have had significant benefits. We are on a knife edge.