Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned about the effect on the lives of ordinary working people. The Minister has not answered my question on this. The reality is that, for workers on modest incomes, the property and water taxes will in a short period amount to anything from €1,000 upwards. This is a massive new austerity burden on their shoulders. At the same time, the Minister pretends to make a virtue of easing income tax. Does he not understand the total contradiction as far as working people and ordinary people generally are concerned? To obtain the stable revenue the Minister speaks about, why does he not turn instead to the big corporations whose scamming of the taxation system is an international scandal? We should tax the wealthiest in society rather than putting the burden on working people.

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