Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Some of the questions I originally intended to ask have already been answered to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, I have to leave at 10.30 a.m. to attend another meeting so I will be brief. I have two observations and two related questions.

There is no doubt that the witnesses gave the Department of Finance some kicking on the stability programme update and did not pull any punches. Is the SPU credible at all and is it of any use this year? Is there a likelihood of the European Commission correcting Ireland's homework and sending it back to the Department for another assessment or, at least, review?

My second point is on our over-reliance on corporation tax from a very limited number of companies and the vulnerability that presents to our Exchequer and spending plans. It seems to me we are going back to the 2000s. This could end up being a similar situation to what we experienced in the 2000s in terms of an over-reliance on residential stamp duty related to people selling ever more expensive houses to one another. There is a clear vulnerability there.

The point was made, in the context of the programme for Government, that the Government has essentially tied its own hands when it made a political commitment not to increase income taxes over its lifetime. In that context, it restricts any revenue-raising measures the Government might be considering to measures confined to taxes that could be raised on about 14% of the existing tax base. That is a very risky situation to be in given the commitments made in the programme for Government and the deficits the pandemic exposed in our public services and other aspects of public policy. One way of addressing that gap and generating additional revenue is to look very seriously at the prospect of the introduction, for example, of a well-designed net wealth tax. Is there any merit in that?