Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Tánaiste accept that the taxation system should be fair and equitable? Essentially, the Revenue survey shows that over 10% of earners in the top 400 have a tax rate of 5% or lower. Much of that 5% exists because the Tánaiste changed the statistics to include the payment of DIRT in order to create some notion of these people paying tax.

Does he intend to extend the use of such tax breaks or will he curtail them? The recommendation from Indecon, the consultants he appointed last year, was that from the perspective of economic efficiency none of these tax breaks should last longer than three years and they should not be undertaken unless they are clearly evaluated and subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. These tax breaks are basically State subsidies for the very wealthy. Does the Tánaiste propose to continue and expand them in the forthcoming budget?

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