Mr. Seamus Coffey:

It highlights that there are choices to be made. Where one sees the balance of risks may be dependent on one's perspective and what one considers to be the likely outcome of tax changes. In the main, when we refer to tax changes, in respect of corporation tax it is hard to identify the changes that have led to the increase in receipts in recent years. There might be no change or the receipts could fall. If one believes government services should be expanded, which would require an increase in spending, doing so sustainably would require revenue to be raised sustainably. The issue is one of choice. Different perspectives can have different opinions about where the balance should lie such as whether raising income tax would be damaging to competitiveness or whether it would generate additional revenue to provide necessary supports in the economy. They are the choices the political process must make. The Oireachtas, as elected officials dealing with the general public, has to decide where the balance lies. The issue is with trying to do everything and thinking there are excess receipts which we can use to provide supports. We have experienced difficulties with problems related to it. There are echoes of the past in some of the decisions now being taken.