Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

For the first time in its history, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has described the position of low-income families as critical. That is as a result of the budgets the Taoiseach has spoken about, and measures such as increasing the minimum wage have not made any difference or had any real impact. In fact, inequality is widening as a result of the budgets the Taoiseach's Government is introducing. We have the fourth lowest tax take, as a percentage of GDP, in the European Union. If the Taoiseach only made the decision to move up to the average, he would be doing a great deal to ensure that the people on the lowest incomes and those who are struggling the most in this society would not carry the burden. It is not too much to ask people such as those of us in this House and other high earners to contribute more and pay a fairer share. That is what the Taoiseach's budget should do, and that is the reason I ask that he equality-proof his budget to ensure it does not increase the inequality in society. That is something the Taoiseach should be able to do, and I ask him to do that for budget 2013.

See this speech in context