Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

What I do not understand is, if the Government can do what is proposed in this resolution, which is a progressive measure, why could it not have increased to some degree, if not as much as we wished, the income tax for those earning more than €100,000 on some sort of progressive increasing scale?

I have genuine questions for the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore. Is there an issue on the loans employees may receive? I have no difficulty with employees getting loans from their companies and being giving some relief to them on that basis, but I ask the Tánaiste in his response to allay my concern that this is a method through which directors and executives could lend to themselves and get tax relief on it. It summons up images of certain families in this country who helped bring the country to its knees who played all sorts of games with their companies and siphoned wealth out of them. I seek assurance that this scheme could not be abused by such people.

The measure on risk equalisation seems reasonable although I would appreciate elaboration on who is likely to be affected by it and how it would translate. I would like to vote for these, but I seek clarification on them. Perhaps the Tánaiste would also answer why, if the Government could implement the measure on pensions in excess of €60,000, it could not do so on earnings in excess of €100,000.

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