Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A total of €1.3 billion was to be distributed in the budget in some way and I want to dispel a few myths first. There is a myth that this nation does not redistribute wealth but the income tax take for 2017 is €20.5 billion, while the social protection budget for 2017 is €20.25 billion. There are practically no jurisdictions which give out the entire tax take on income and redistributes it to the social protection budget. The old age pension accounts for €7.25 billion, the biggest level of expenditure from any one pot in the State.

This is closely followed by unemployment assistance at a cost of €4.6 billion, child benefit at a cost of €2.6 billion and illness, disability and carers benefits at a cost of €4 billion, which for me is money well spent. There is a debate to be had at some point in the future on universal payments, which provide money for people who are comfortable or well-off. I have a problem with that. There are too many people coming to my constituency offices in Wexford, Gorey and Bunclody who need assistance from the State much more than people who are comfortable and will receive a €5 per week increase in the old age pension. This is an issue on which we need to have an honest debate. It will be a difficult debate but it must be had at some point in the future. We should also have an honest debate on taxation. Ireland ranks high among the OECD countries in terms of the rate at which a person moves to the higher rate of taxation. When a person reaches €33,801, he or she moves to the higher rate of taxation of 49.5%.

I have been critical of Fianna Fáil but I commend it on its responsible attitude not only in terms of this budget but also in the formation of a Government. Deputy Michael McGrath's speech was good and was a speech of politics of the centre. I have a deep respect for Deputy McGrath. During the two years we were members of the banking inquiry, I got to know him well. He is a good politician. I am less complimentary of Deputy Micheál Martin's contribution which I thought it was poor. I am happy to praise people when I think what they are doing is good, but I am equally happy to criticise them when I think what they are doing is bad. Deputy Martin is shaping up to be this generation's Jack Lynch.

I note there is nobody in the Chamber from the other Opposition parties. There is a very good term for them, namely, the mobocracy. These are the people who will implement whatever is the most populist at the time. Politics does not work like that. I have no time for the type of silly statements we heard from some members of the Opposition, including the proposal from the AAA-PBP, which it was stated would bring in €24 billion. Current tax yield is €50 billion, which means the AAA-PBP proposes to increase the tax take by almost 50%. Sinn Féin was more modest in that it proposed measures to increase the tax take by €2 billion, despite that at this time all of our taxes are at a maximum. We have the second highest VAT level in Europe and some of the highest personal taxation rates in the OECD. Excise and duty taxes are also very high, some of them the highest across Europe. Sinn Féin wants to take another €2 billion from that area. The area in which we have a low tax rate is corporation tax but that is by choice because we have only a small number of corporations relative to the size of our economy.

The first-time buyer's tax rebate is required. First-time buyer's need a kick-start. However, I have a problem with the exclusion from that scheme of people who may wish to relocate but, because they are paying tax in another jurisdiction, will not have the four years' contributions required to qualify for that scheme. This is an area we need to revisit.

I welcome the changes in regard to guidance counsellors. An area that has not been provided for in this budget is capital expenditure for local authorities for projects for which they will never have funding. I know there are capital budgets provided for in other spaces, but local authorities in each area should have a budget available to them that would boost the economy of their particular county. It is important we take a coherent view rather than a piecemeal view of this issue.

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