Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The relief should be introduced at the standard rate and with the cap that was in place when it was abolished.

In the context of my argument regarding the view of the Commission on Taxation, as repeated by Government Ministers today, former Ministers for Finance Brian Lenihan and Deputy Noonan and the current Minister, Deputy Donohoe, that the tax relief is dead weight and does not encourage trade union membership, I fully agree that this is about equality. We should not have tax relief for subscriptions for other professional bodies but none for trade union membership. I made the point at the time that the relief is an encouraging and deciding factor. People understand the benefit of being a member of a trade union but also its cost. The relief is a deciding factor for a person who is weighing up if he or she will have enough money after taking out membership.