Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Without casting aspersions on our distinguished colleagues in the bull pen, the Minister of State's contribution is reminiscent of an episode of "Irish Pictorial Weekly", with numbers being plucked from the air. He referred to the definition of a day. It seems we will have to define what is and is not a day.

Given the energy the Government is expending on tracking down the €25 million it will allegedly save by eliminating multiple claims in 2014, why does it not expend the same energy on pursuing the Googles of this world which pay only a couple of per cent in corporation tax when they should pay a minimum of 12.5%?

The Minister of State explained that the Government had been examining this tax relief for a long time, whether through the Commission on Taxation or in other forums, because it was unfair on families in general. Irrespective of what one's view is of the proposal, it may well be discriminatory against many fathers. In the second or third quarter of this year 34% of births were to single parent families. Since the fateful events of September 2008, successive Governments have taken a series of anti-family measures and interventions which have not been child friendly. For example, child benefit and one-parent family payments were cut, while maternity benefit was made taxable. These measures gave the most vulnerable the task of carrying the burden of austerity. As a recent Oxfam study shows, austerity has been borne most heavily by those least able to bear it. I commend the amendment to the House.

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