Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have a subsequent amendment which I believe is in order.

The bank levy is too low. The banks are getting away with certain activities and profit-making which are not subject to taxation. The bank levy is a substitute for it, as we know. It was introduced by my party which got the agreement of Fine Gael for it during the period of the last Government. Given the extraordinary tax treatment the banks are enjoying and the failure to increase the bank levy, we made a very modest proposal that the levy be increased in the budget by a significant amount in order to raise money to address some of the issues we have been discussing in the budget debate and have a budget which would not be as regressive for poor people as the ESRI stated it would be. Therefore, I am disappointed, but I want the levy to continue. In that sense, I will be voting in favour of the section. However, it is entirely inadequate. Essentially, the banks can avoid corporation tax contributions for a further very long period of time, bearing in mind that in some cases their profits have moved above the €1 billion mark. The provision proposed, the aim of which is simply to maintain the levy at its current level but to change it in the context of the current rates of DIRT and so on, is completely inadequate.