Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If we were to increase it by one third each year, the amount would be €550 each year.

The reason I brought the figure back to €400 this year is twofold. First, there are very limited resources available. As the Deputy knows, we had to spread thinkly what we had available in the budget for tax reductions or anything to do with tax. As well as this, there was a fairness test, something I always like to apply to budgets. When I looked at the income distribution for PAYE workers who were getting €7 or €8 a week in USC reductions and then for self-employed persons who were getting an increase in the earned income credit, as well as availing of USC reductions, there was a very wide discrepancy in the benefit per week for a self-employed person as against that for a PAYE worker. As such, I had two reasons for it.

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