Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

An article by Professor Tim Callan and Dr. Claire Keane, published in the quarterly economic commentary from the ESRI, indicates that the austerity budgets of the last four years of the Fianna Fáil Government - which I admit we introduced - were progressive. That means the percentage of tax paid by higher earners was more than that paid on lower incomes. Last year we produced an alternative budget, A Fairer Way to Recovery, and the Labour Party agreed with some elements of it. If we are to believe what happened in the Cabinet negotiations, the Labour Party walked out over the proposed 3% increase in the universal social charge. I would love to know what happened to make them walk in again. There are choices, which the Minister of State should never forget.

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