Ms Michelle Murphy:

We published a study on this in 2010, and I am sure some of the members are familiar with it. The basis of it is that some people earn an income that is not high enough for them to gain the full value of their tax credits. The proposal is to make the two main tax credits refundable. The burden would not be on the employer as they would be refunded to the person from the Revenue Commissioners. It would benefit approximately 113,000 individuals in the State. The average repayment is between €46 and €50 per week, so it is approximately €1,000 per year. This is all detailed in the report, which is on our website.

It would make the tax system equitable, in that everybody would be treated in the same manner and everybody would get the full value of their tax credits. The high earners get the full value of their tax credits. The reality is that 16% of people living in poverty have a job and they clearly are not getting the full value of their tax credits. For a very small sum of money, €140 million per annum, it would make a huge difference to the livelihoods of approximately 113,000 people. It would also be easy to implement, because it would not be necessary to create a new administrative process. The employer would not have to do anything. The State would do it.