Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----and true to form, the Labour Party goes along with it. Reducing the top income tax rate by one percentage point will benefit only 17% of workers, of whom those on the largest incomes, the Taoiseach for instance, will gain most. The better off a person is and the more he or she earns, the greater will be the benefit. Let us contrast that with the approach taken to low income earners. According to OECD data, Ireland is now second only to the United States of America in terms of the proportion of low paid workers. That is some achievement under the Labour Party in government. The Government's gestures to lower paid workers are pathetically inadequate. It should have completely removed the universal social charge for all workers who earn less than €17,542 per annum, in other words, the minimum wage.

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