Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support this amendment. Let me be clear. I did not oppose the section in the Finance Bill 2019. It is with merit and there are many things in the Finance Bills throughout the years that try to encourage behavioural change.

The big change that has happened in the meantime is the cost-of-living crisis, although there was ample time and this was flagged in terms of the change in behaviour. I heard the comments in the Dáil about those who did change and how unfair it would be for them. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and I do not think this should be abandoned at all, but its implementation should be delayed for a calendar year. We talked about the tax package earlier on. For many in this scenario who would be caught up by this, that is gone. This is an extra tax burden. For somebody on a modest value car, this is more than €500. Somebody earning below €35,000 or €30,000 does not even have a tax benefit of that in terms of this budget. In the context we are in, it is not the right time to introduce it. I did and do support this section, but I think it should be delayed for a year.