Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I could just interrupt Professor Clinch, that is why I should have mentioned, if something is going to be done with the USC, it has to be linked with the tax system payments made, such as the €50 one pays the person to fix the light outside the door. This has to be fixed inside the taxation system, in other words the person who is paying out the €50 will be entitled to get a receipt that can be included in their tax returns. That is the only way that the net can be broadened while at the same time avoiding allowing certain individuals to effectively continue making false returns. It does not make sense that one can spend money, as we all do as householders, with various jobs that we have to get done in a situation where a person arrives, it is €25 or €30 before he even gets out of the car or the van, and then it is maybe another €50 on top of that for half an hour's work. Surely there must be some way of incentivising people who do this to make certain that we are gaining something from it by getting tax back. That in turn has the effect of notifying the authorities that these people exist.

We have ignored all of these things for far too long. It is the nod and the wink and the best of luck to you if you can get away with it approach. However, those who do that are not getting away with it, they are imposing the burden on somebody else who is caught up in the net. This should not be allowed to continue.