Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)

No one is unaffected. That people's expectation, legitimate or otherwise, five years ago that this pot would grow and grow, assisted by the tax reliefs provided, will not be realised is unfortunate. We are faced with a crisis. We must get people back to work and this requires intervention. The Government has intervened in an imaginative way by way of this temporary claw-back. The Government has clearly stated that this levy will only apply for four years. There are no other sources of income available to Government and there are limits in terms of what can be in relation to income tax. However, there remains merit in the proposal, which should be revisited, to increase income tax for high earners. This issue will have to be revisited in the future in terms of funding of the type of programmes we need. The programme for Government is in place and there is agreement on what is required. This is an imaginative step forward. It will help get people back to work. While this may not be the most ambitious stimulus programme in the history of the universe it will assist in getting people back to work. There are plans in place to invest millions of euro in the education sector, the repair of roads and the retrofitting programme. These are real proposals which will yield real jobs in our economy. This legislation deserves the support of every Member of the House.

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