Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)

The statement that the Finance Bill has, at its heart, the primary objective of job creation, is an insult to the half a million people on the dole. Their talents are wasted at a time when such necessary work remains to be done. Nothing in the Bill will change that situation and we can say that categorically because the legislation is more of the same. Even by the Government's own standards it is letting people down. It talks about supporting small and medium enterprises at the core, but the Government has even backtracked on that by not allowing SMEs access to promised bank loans. Some €6 billion in funds was supposed to be accessed but less than one third of those moneys will be available. Even the innovators, which the Government says it is propping up, find it difficult to access funds in the present climate.

We have a continuation of Robin Hood in reverse - taking money from the poorest in society while those at the top line their pockets. The measure to entice the so-called super rich from abroad with nice little tax-relief carrots, has exposed this con in the minds of many people. In essence, the Government is saying that a category of super high earners will have a lower effective tax rate than many people earning far less. This is somehow put out as a job creation measure, without any statistical analysis to support it, even though the scheme has already been in existence. This is a ludicrous assertion.

Two of the biggest contributors to the destruction of jobs are the disastrous austerity plans which the Government is continuing to promote and the collapse in private sector investment. How will giving foreign investors money to come in here and tax breaks mitigate against that? Nothing has been put forward to support that argument. There is no measure to say the Exchequer will be reimbursed should that strategy fail as it undoubtedly will. These tax breaks must be seen in the context of the cuts that are being foisted on the shoulders of single parents and other less well off people in society. Money is being taken out of people's pockets through VAT, the household tax and other charges, so they cannot spend it in their local shops. This is about choices.

While we expect Fine Gael to promote and back up the rich - there is nothing new in that - it is shameful for the Labour Party. A surprising fact that has emerged is the sharp increase in the number of people declaring high incomes during the worst years of the economic crisis. What is the Government's response to this? Does it take more off them? No, it lets them off for even less. The number of those earning €275,000 has increased by almost a third but they pay an effective rate of tax of 32%. If an extra 3% income tax were imposed on these high earners, up to €150 million a year could be raised. Imposing a similar rate on all those earning over €100,000 would raise an extra €540 million, which is not far short of the amount the Government expects to collect through the VAT increase.

Instead of imposing such rates, the Government has reverted to more of the same of not supporting indigenous industry but prostituting this country at the feet of multinational corporations which have not delivered any serious jobs, which funnel their profits through our books to distort export figures and which make no meaningful contributions to the economy. This policy will fail because it is more of the same.

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