Mr. Fergal O'Brien:

We still believe it is a significant issue. Last year was the first since the start of the recovery that there were fewer Irish people coming home to work than the previous year. There are a number reasons for that. Housing was probably number one. Other costs such as childcare are probably a part of it, but so is the marginal tax rate. People who are working in the UK, Australia, Canada, be it on €50,000, €60,000 or €70,000 tell us that if they come back to Ireland they will have less take-home pay. The point of entry to the marginal rate is a big disincentive to taking up a promotion or taking an extra hour of overtime, when one knows that 50 cent of each extra euro earned in overtime goes to Revenue. We may not be able to get to a marginal tax rate of €44,000 in one budget, but over a period of years average earners must be taken out of the top rate of tax. We put forward proposals that would be affordable in the context of the budgetary space available this year. Over time, it must be targeted at the income tax system. At the moment, our income tax system is unbalanced.