Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am trying to feed into that debate in a productive way. I ask the Minister to acknowledge to the House that by increasing the standard threshold, 1.3 million taxpayers in this State will not benefit by one penny and many others may not benefit because of the way it is calculated. One could have married couples treated as a single unit. We know that 1.3 million taxpayers would not benefit whatsoever, that the cost of increasing the threshold by €1,000 is about €150 million and that 15% of that benefit would go to individuals who earn above €100,000. Can the Minister acknowledge this because this debate has been dressed up by others to make it seem as though this is about giving taxpayers something back? I acknowledge the Minister has not dressed it up in his contribution here today. Can the Minister acknowledge that if he was to increase the standard threshold, the vast majority of taxpayers who have taxable income would not benefit at all and a significant portion of this benefit would go to highest earners? That is the reason I believe that if something is to be given back, let us ensure that the people who are hanging on by their fingernails - those who do not have taxable income or those whose taxable income is moderate - are given something back. There are other ways to give something back including abolishing the property tax and exempting minimum income earners from the universal social charge. There are many more in respect of which I, on behalf of Sinn Féin, would like to engage with the Minister.

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