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

Deputy Burton made a very good point about the non-indexation of income tax. Every year an extra €600 million comes in as a consequence of not indexing rates and bands. A tax package of €600 million a year would be entirely reasonable and far from reckless if this was a normal budget. This is not a normal budget, however, it is being developed on the basis of planning for the possibility of no Brexit deal being reached. The latter will mean higher unemployment and, unfortunately, money will have to be found to pay the increased costs that will arise. It will mean growth and income growth moderating, which will unfortunately wipe out the €600 million very quickly. We need to focus the resources we have on saving jobs and businesses and making sure that as many people as possible get through the worst of a no-deal Brexit.

There will be a tax package in the budget but, as the Minister for Finance has stated, it will be minimal. There will also be a social welfare package in the budget but, as the Minister for Finance has indicated, it will modest and focused on those most in need. The Minister for Finance and I jointly made the decision, with the approval of Cabinet thereafter, that the budget should be developed on the basis of no deal and that we would not be able to proceed with the kind of tax package or welfare package that we were able to deliver in previous years. We made that decision jointly, just as we made a decision of Fine Gael's tax policy jointly. Notwithstanding the efforts to suggest the contrary-----

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