Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Okay, but my hope was that it would have been completed this year. When we get to the issue of vulture fund tax avoidance, I will demonstrate to the Minister where plenty of additional discretionary taxes could be applied. The figure in last year's budget document was €33 million. These figures are first order effects; therefore, when the impact is factored in, the rule of thumb is to reduce the cost to the Exchequer by approximately one third. If the Minister went one third of the way last year and the net tax hit for the Exchequer was €22 million, it is reasonable to assume that the cost of going the full way would be €44 million. He has gone a further third of the way, but for the sake of the additional €20 million or so, it would send a strong signal to the self-employed who have endured a great deal of insecurity and difficulty during the recession. If we could find the additional €20 million, it would make a strong statement to the self-employed all over the country that they would be treated equally from a tax credit perspective to PAYE workers.