Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have outlined the reason I do not believe such a tax should be introduced. The reason is that we already have such a progressive tax system in place in which those who have more income pay more tax. Many different evaluations of the tax code that have been carried out by the OECD and international experts have recognised that. The reason we do not currently have a database to assess wealth is because of the difficulty, for example, in how we would value different forms of wealth. It may be possible to evaluate the value of assets that are regularly traded such as stocks and shares or even property but, for example, when one gets into other forms of wealth that are not traded as often it is more difficult to value them and therefore to tax them. I am not currently aware of there being such a database in other jurisdictions but I imagine if there is Deputy Boyd Barrett will tell me in a moment. One of the reasons no such database exists is because of the difficulty in defining and measuring wealth. That is one of the reasons I cannot accept the amendment.

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