Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies. The point I am making is that looking at the combined effect of all of the changes and what it means for somebody in 2024, the effective rate of tax following budget 2024 for a person on €35,000 is going to be 16.2%. For somebody earning €75,000, it is essentially twice that rate at 32.3% and that increases further to more than 40%. For somebody on say €150,000, it is 42.2%. What the Deputy is essentially proposing is that somebody on a relatively modest level of income should get the same cash benefit as somebody earning a much higher level of income but given the nature of the progressivity within our tax system that ignores the reality that somebody earning more money as you go up the income chain is paying multiples in terms of tax. The way we have constructed the package with the combined effect of the three changes is fair and balanced. It maintains that highly progressive nature of our tax system. That is the right policy response.

In regard to the minimum wage worker and the circumstance Deputy Matthews raised, a full-time minimum wage worker will see his or her weekly net income rise from €397.85 to €442.10, which equates to a €44.25 or 11.1% increase in weekly net income from the 1 January 2024. This amounts to an annual increase in that person's net income of approximately €2,300. Of course, it does not take account of cost-of-living one-off measures introduced as part of the budget. It is estimated that 148,100 individuals will benefit from the increase in the national minimum wage.