Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The scale of the overall package of budget day announcements was smaller than some of the budgets to which the Deputy is referring, which, therefore, meant the resources available for measures such as the earned income credit were smaller. I reiterate that I do not believe people should be forced into self employment. As we move into November there will be a focus on the level of self-employed returns. It is inconsistent to say the growth in the self-employment sector is undermining our self-employed tax receipts because those tax receipts could potentially increase in November. We should wait to see what happens in that regard.