Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am astounded each time the Government expresses astonishment that we oppose regressive taxes or asks how socialists could possibly oppose them. To go back over recent years, when the household tax was introduced it was described as a tax for local services. We were asked how socialists could possibly be opposed to developing local tax structures when socialists across the world support such structures. The household tax was then replaced by the property tax.

We were told it was a tax on wealth, that socialists across the world support taxes on wealth and were asked why we did not support this tax. It was added to by the water tax, which we were told it was a green tax. We were told socialists across the world support taxes on the consumption of water and that it is an environmental measure. Now we come to the sugar tax, the Minister states he is shocked and surprised again that socialists are opposed to these sorts of taxes. The Minister might want to draw some broader conclusions about our approach to taxation because I do not agree. We do not put forward regressive taxation measures on ordinary people as a way of changing behaviour. That is not a socialist approach to taxation.

While we call for more taxes on the wealthy, it has nothing in common with that kind of nudge theory of trying to change individuals' behaviour. We are in favour of taxes to raise wealth and resources in order that they can be used by the public - by the State - to improve people's lives. That is what we are for. If one seeks a contrast between the approach of Hillary Clinton, a liberal in an American sense, and Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, the former was in favour of the sugar tax in the US presidential election. She was in favour of this sort of nudge theory whereas Bernie Sanders was against such a tax because it is a regressive tax and was instead in favour of the kind of measures we propose. We are debating a sugar tax but fundamentally, there is a philosophical economic approach to how one sees taxation and what the purpose of taxation is.

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