Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Revenue Commissioners made a decision at the start of this year to begin to apply the European Court of Justice ruling. What has it decided to do about refunds? It stated at that stage that it was in discussions and if there was to be a windfall for clubs it would not be given. Has it made a decision yet? If not, why not? This is important because it speaks to the nature of the budget and the taxation system. The Government likes to proclaim that we have one of the most progressive taxation systems in the world, but in doing so it speaks only about income tax and not about VAT, which is, overwhelmingly, a regressive tax. It is not a tax on luxury goods, with the result that those in the bottom 10% in our society in terms of income pay almost the same as a percentage of their total income in tax. This illustrates the regressive nature of our tax system.

See this speech in context