Ms Loretta Glucksman:

Deputy Pearse Doherty has raised very salient points. I take great comfort from the fact that other countries are being very much less insistent with their tax exiles. We try not to use the term "tax exiles" because it is so toxic, but we all know what we are talking about. For example, Portugal is lowering the threshold without a financial requirement. In our view, this is punitive for that community who are the tax exiles. This is a significant investment - I do not care how much money a person has - it is a lot of money. I do not think Ireland could be perceived as being soft on the persons who are not paying taxes and who live outside for that reason. If people see the value of it and sign up to the scheme, that is an affirmation of how painful it is to be Irish and not live here. This gives them an opportunity to participate in a very difficult time for the country when we need this new money. I agree with Ms Mortell. My colleagues and I have thought long and hard and do not see another source for this amount of money in this rational way.