Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Following on from that and a point I made in the debate yesterday, according to Revenue's own figures, 96% of those who seek deferrals do so because their income is insufficient. I believe the income threshold is €15,000. The Minister of State can correct me on the figures but the vast majority - 96% - of those who seek deferrals do so on income grounds, that is, they cannot afford to pay it. In addition, regarding the deductions made by employers, if I read the figures from Revenue correctly, they indicate that 63,000, and another 22,000 on top of that, which is 85,000 people, have it directly deducted. I assume many of those, and the Minister of State might be able elaborate on this, do so for reasons of having difficulty paying it but it is taken from them anyway by their employer. When all of that is added together, 48,000 people seek deferrals and 85,000 from whom it is taken automatically, probably in most cases because they find difficulty in paying it. That is a huge number of people who just are not able to pay. Does the Government consider the unfairness of that is something that needs to be addressed and that deferring it does not resolve it? It simply pushes it down the road and leads to accumulated debt, and the interest on that debt, when that debt arises from the fact their income is not sufficient to allow them pay it. Has the Government considered that? Does it believe it is fair?