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

The SARP was a massive tax break provided by the Government to the highest-paid executives who qualified for it. A qualifying chief executive on €500,000 a year would increase his or her take-home pay by a breathtaking €52,275 per year. The Minister had instituted a cap of €500,000, but now he is removing that cap, so that somebody on €750,000 will get not just the €52,275 I mentioned but an extra €30,750, giving an extra take-home amount of €83,000. This is an incredible inequality in our society at a time when the Minister is hammering the poorest people and middle- and low-income workers with water charges and other austerity burdens. It speaks volumes about the ethos of the Government.

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