Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Is the Minister aware that the study highlights the fact that the top 115 earners each received an average of €500,000 in tax breaks per year? I am not sure if the Minister gambles but that figure is equivalent to a small national lottery win — guaranteed and risk-free, if one uses certain tax breaks. The statistics show that 29 of the country's top 400 earners in the country paid no tax. The Minister will recall stating in a previous reply that 41 people, single and married, with incomes of over €500,000 per year paid no tax.

When will the free ride for these people end? Does the Minister propose to merely postpone taking action? The Taoiseach, in particular, and the Tanáiste have both stated that they find it morally unacceptable — they may also find it economically unacceptable — that certain individuals who earn extraordinary amounts of money can avoid paying tax. Most of the people to whom I refer avoid paying tax by availing of the property-based tax breaks introduced by the Minister's predecessor.

Why, in respect of the study, did the Minister propose to abolish the provision of information regarding individuals who do not pay tax in the future? The response of the Government to the embarrassment caused by those on high incomes who pay no tax is to quarantine the information. The study proposes a new methodology where there will be no class of people recorded as paying zero tax. The information in the future will refer only to those paying under 5%. If these people pay DIRT, it will qualify them as paying tax.

I am a chartered accountant by profession and if I was advising any of these lucky lotto winners, I would suggest that they invest €1,000 or €10,000 in their favourite local bank, pay a small amount in DIRT and thereby remove themselves from the category of those who do not pay tax. Why is the Minister proposing to block the release of the information in question when, as he stated in his reply, he is deferring taking any action in respect of eliminating the scandalous situation involving very wealthy people who, mainly because they benefit from the property-based tax breaks introduced by the Minister's predecessor, do not pay tax?

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