Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Before we took office, there were less than 300,000 people outside the tax net; now, there are 800,000. There are 500,000 people, therefore, who are now outside the tax net, who used to pay 26% tax under the Opposition Members' regime. With regard to the progression we have made, I accept we are introducing a levy of 1% on those incomes. That is against a background where we progressively, and using our republican egalitarianism, took those people from a tax burden of 26% imposed by the rainbow Government——

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