Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 6, line 6, after "income" to insert the following:

"except where the Minister by regulation sets out a schedule of allowable

deductions".

Essentially, this amendment is to deal with the very unsatisfactory nature of the levy system the Minister has put in place. I do not need to rehearse the arguments about the problems but will give a couple of examples of which I, and I am sure the Minister, is aware. This scheme results in a single person with a gross income of €36,400 being on a 51% marginal tax rate. It takes no account of whether that person has a mortgage, children or medical expenses. The Minister admitted that it is an emergency measure thrown very widely but not sustainable as a long-term feature of our tax code.

The Minister has given a firm commitment to amend his ways, or what did we learn in catechism?

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