Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The short answer to the Deputy's question is yes. Part of my mission in politics is to make sure everyone will experience an increase in his or her standard of living. In that context, we should not forget all those who receive very little by way of support from the State. I refer to people who pay a lot of tax but do not qualify for any or many of the benefits the State provides because of means-testing and so on. That is the reason I have a particular interest in removing that real unfairness in the tax system. The average person working full-time in Ireland earns about €44,000 a year, yet at a figure of €36,000 he or she hits the higher rate of income tax, which is far too soon. I would like to see fewer people pay at the highest rate of income tax and want to see people pay less of their income at it. It is a real disincentive and needs to be improved. However, we must do all of this in the context of prudent management of the public finances. We want to balance the books and reduce the national debt. The economy is growing well and fast. We are approaching full employment and I want to make sure we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. I will not fund increases in public spending or tax cuts through additional borrowing, even though some would like us to do so.

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