Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to share time with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and Deputy Dominic Hannigan.

I thank Deputy Dara Calleary for his good wishes. With regard to his point about the difficulties faced by the family he mentioned, we all have similarly difficult examples in our constituency offices and tangible examples of what we must get right in the health budget and by moving beyond a blanket moratorium.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget, which I view as the first post-crisis budget. That is not to engage in what some Opposition Members accused the Government of doing - that is, self-congratulation, patting ourselves on the back, or popping Champagne corks. It is still a difficult time for people and unemployment is too high. There are too many people in mortgage arrears and struggling to make ends meet. We still have high debt levels. However, the firefighting of the Irish economy is truly over and we have choices about what to do with economic growth. We have choices about the kind of economy we want to create. Yesterday, the Government made an honest attempt to outline where it wants to go. One of the two things it did was to invest in crucial public services that Deputies on all sides agree have been under massive pressure over the past eight years. We will look at lifting the blanket moratorium on recruitment, empowering public service managers to make better decisions on recruitment, investing in health and providing a realistic budget, and providing teachers and SNAs to deal with demographic change. We will also look after social protection issues and begin to acknowledge the role played by older people, carers and people with disabilities in regard to the difficulties they have faced over the past number of years.

On the tax side, we have begun the process of trying to reduce the burden on working people. I feel aggrieved at the misinformation about what the Government has done with regard to tax and low-paid workers. Some Opposition Members have attempted to engage in misinformation about low-paid workers. It does not stand up to scrutiny and I wish to put statistics on the record in that regard. Every worker who pays income tax, the USC or both will see a reduction in income tax or USC in this budget. After the budget, single PAYE workers earning €25,000 will have their tax bills cut by 4.6%, whereas the tax bill of someone earning €70,000 is cut by only 2.9%. That is progressive. After the budget, 80% of Ireland's taxes will be paid by the top 24% of earners, an increase as a result of the budget. Yesterday, before the budget, the top 1% of earners paid 19% of the total income tax and USC take in the country. After the budget, that 1% will pay 21%, another increase in the proportion it pays. After the budget, 80,000 more low earners will no longer have to pay any USC, in addition to the 330,000 workers already taken out of USC net. After the budget, 410,000 real live people will not be paying the USC who were paying it when this Government came into office. After the budget, low-paid workers will have more money in their pockets. The Tánaiste outlined that we will also establish a low pay commission in 2015.

Low-paid workers have been prioritised in yesterday's budget and we have given every child an additional five euro in child benefit in order to make life easier for families. Vulnerable households will be supported in paying for water services and all taxpayers will benefit from a tax credit in this regard. All long-term welfare recipients will receive a Christmas bonus of 25% of the weekly payment, and one of the first budgetary acts of the Government was to increase the minimum wage by one euro per hour and restore it to its previous rate. Members should feel free to criticise this budget for not going far enough and for not doing as much as we would like to, because we would all like to invest more in our health service and schools and to give more back to people. Members should be honest in their critique of yesterday's tax arrangements, because they favour and benefit low- and middle-income workers. There is nothing wrong with introducing income tax changes that benefit every worker in the State, because we must incentivise work. People should not try to portray this budget as something it is not, something targeting taxes on lower earners. The statistics do not show that. As a result of yesterday's budget, higher earners will pay a greater proportion of the total income tax take and 410,000 low-paid workers will no longer pay the USC.

I hope to announce a new financial services strategy in 2015. There was much talk yesterday about corporation tax reform, and the Minister for Finance has published a roadmap on it. The key element will be ensuring our financial services are fit for purpose. The last strategy was put in place at a time when the country was in crisis. Some 33,000 people work in the financial services sector and I look forward to putting in place a new financial services strategy that the country, including private and public stakeholders, can sell when we present Ireland as a destination for investment and international banking and as a destination for more jobs in Dublin and, potentially, every town and village in the country.

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