Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

It would be interesting to extend the statistical exercise, with which the Minister's officials supplied him, to include the incidence of indirect taxation in the period of statistical analysis to which he referred. He said that he attends EU ECOFIN meetings. I am sure his officials are aware that when one takes the more complete picture, when one includes the impact of indirect taxation on lower and average income earners, because this country's VAT rates are in the higher bracket, work carried out by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions indicates that the incidence of taxation borne by families on average incomes is much higher.

The Minister acknowledged indirectly in his contribution the second point I will make. The Government has had a policy of replacing taxation by charges wherever possible. This means that the family about whom he spoke could now expect to pay in many counties €500 or more a year for refuse charges. If they need a hospital bed, they will pay significantly more than they paid in 1997. If they take out VHI or other forms of private health insurance, they will pay many multiples of what they paid in 1997. An Bord Pleanála recently increased the fee for observations in regard to planning from €20 to €50. These are the types of increases the Government imposes on ordinary families throughout the country on a regular basis.

In regard to high income earners, the Minister will be aware that many of these units of taxation, which are referred to as high income earners, are couples. Unfortunately, the statistical information is not desegregated to take account of each earner as opposed to the unit as a couple. According to the Minister's statistics, the couple beloved of his colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a garda married to a nurse, is regarded as high income earners because their income in Revenue's statistics are bundled together as one unit.

Taking into account taxation, VAT and the huge range of extra charges they pay at every point, they have been robbed blind by the Government. The Government has sold it well, particularly when they are compared to those who can convert their income. The Minister acknowledged in an amendment that it was possible under his predecessor for people to convert earned income into capital gains and hence to go from the marginal 42% tax rate to the much lower rate of 20%. The purpose of the Labour Party amendment is to seek equity for that section of the population that we represent.

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