Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)

First, I welcome the Minister and all the officials to the meeting. Earlier in the committee, there was a discussion regarding the fact that there are people working who are living in poverty and how much they are struggling. Then we see this proposal we have seen in the past number of years and we have had this discussion in Finance Bills over the past number of years where extremely wealthy individuals receive a benefit and tax break that other people, those working flat out day and night who, as I said, are living in poverty and just cannot make ends meet, could only dream of.

There are things the Minister sometimes brings forward and we might have a disagreement on the approach but maybe I can see where he is coming from. However, in relation to this particular proposal, I can in no way see where he is coming from. In 2023, we know that it cost the Exchequer €56 million to give a tax cut to fewer than 3,000 of some of the most wealthy individuals in this State. We know high earners in this State already benefit from a very low maximum income tax rate relative to our EU neighbours and I do not see where the rationale comes from on this. Whether there is a rationale or not, we also know how much people are struggling at the moment and the Minister is aware of that, too. We are all aware of how much people are struggling. At a time when people are struggling this much and did not see benefits in the budget for them, they see benefits being given to people who earn this level of money. To be honest, I think most people are not actually aware that this is something that is in the budget year in, year out. If people were aware that this is in the budget year in, year out, there would be absolute uproar about it. People know much they are struggling. They can see how much their neighbours and family members are struggling yet some of the most wealthy individuals get these tax breaks.

First, I ask the Minister to reconsider his position on it. Could he also outline what evidence there is that this tax relief is remotely effective? How can he do this in good conscience at a time when we know there are so many children, specifically, living in poverty? That does not even look at how many children are living in deprivation.