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

Yesterday's budget was ten years and ten days from the bank guarantee. For those of us who were here on that occasion, it is something we should never forget. Those were difficult times. It has been a difficult decade. I have called that period, "The lost decade," and it has been much more difficult for some than for others. It has taken a decade to balance the budget. That is how long it has taken us to get back into a space where we really need to be. Yesterday was not only about balancing the budget for 2019. We were also reducing the deficit by 0.1% from 2018, and by an equivalent amount for 2019.

I make no apologies about reducing taxes. The tax reductions were modest, at €291 million. To put it in context, at the lowest point of our tax take in 2012 we collected €11 billion in income taxes and in 2018, the estimated yield will be almost €22 billion. There is no jurisdiction anywhere where one could say that one would double the quantum of incomes taxes to be collected in such a short period without there being chaos, carnage and difficulties with the public but the people of Ireland are the ones who deserve credit in this regard. They got on with the job. It was not easy. It has been a tough decade, and as I said, it has been tougher for some more than others. Therefore, I do not apologise.

The tax reduction involves increasing the threshold, the point at which taxpayers move to the higher rate, by €750 at a cost of €138 million, and reducing the universal social charge rate of 4.75% to 4.5% at a cost of a little over €120 million. The total tax package of €291 million was not much more than the restoration of the full Christmas bonus. I believe that the people are well entitled to get some small tax decreases.

Something I, in my role as Minister of State with responsibility for financial services, want to highlight also is that there are challenges and one of these is the sustainability of mid-career staff whose positions will be challenged by technology. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, spoke about the National Training Fund increase of 1% to build up a pot of €300 million. That €300 million will be required for the retraining and reskilling of employees who will lose their positions because of the development of disruptive technologies, which is a train coming down the track that will challenge many workers in many different sectors. We must set aside an amount of money to do so and I am really pleased that we are doing that.

There was criticism for not increasing carbon taxes. Of course, we have a carbon tax at the rate of €20 per tonne. With the increase in the price of oil, in particular, in the past number of weeks and months, and as we are moving into the winter period, it was appropriate, in particular, for commuters, that we decided not to go with the change in carbon tax. That said, there were other areas, such as the increase in the VRT, namely, the 1% surcharge on vehicles that will be registered from 1 January 2019, that will bring in €25 million.

I am very pleased the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, launched Ireland's first sovereign green bond today. I travelled with the NTMA to London and Paris last week highlighting this. It is a new sovereign offering related to green products. About five countries, including Ireland, have a national sovereign bond at this stage. Ireland's €3 billion offering today was oversubscribed, at a rate of less than 1.4% over 12 years. That we can borrow on the international markets at those rates just goes to show how stable our finances are.

Some €17 billion has been allocated for the health service. We have enough money going into the health budget. Another €7 billion is going to the private health sector. We are spending €24 billion overall on the public and private health services. It should be enough money. The challenge is to ensure that people get a proper service. There is a challenge for all of us in that regard.

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