Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is very interesting. I have one more question. IFAC states that if the Government does not raise taxes or reduce spending to fund new policies in the coming years, projections suggest that the deficit will not be closed and debt will remain high. Leaving aside the question of what types of taxes need to be raised, we need to prioritise tackling tax avoidance within existing tax measures. Some weeks ago, the Committee of Public Accounts heard evidence relating to bogus self-employment and the resultant loss of PRSI contributions, up to a potential value of €1 billion per year. Mr. Barnes made reference to increases in PRSI bringing in an additional €600 million. While we could have a conversation about that, I am more interested in the issue of tax avoidance. Even if the Government increased PRSI rates, tackling avoidance would still be important. Would we not be better served by tackling the avoidance under existing tax heads before we start talking about changing bands, introducing new taxes and so forth? I am interested in the council's views on that.