Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

It is terribly insulting to all those people who give their time freely and voluntarily to the party to categorise them in such a blasé and ill-informed way. There was much else in Deputy Shortall's speech which was ill-informed. The Deputy ignored the fact that the top 9% of income earners in the country pay almost 50% of income tax. It is true to say the top earners should pay the most and this is what occurs. That is the tax system in place in the country. As part of last week's instalment of Labour Party populism, its finance spokesperson suggested we withdraw and redraw the pension levy. Now, Deputy Shortall is telling us to get rid of it altogether. Perhaps next week there will be a different suggestion.

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