David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Financial Resolution No. 3 proposes a technical change to update the year on which the calculation of the bank levy is based. This measure's outworking is that the banks will continue paying the same amount and the State will receive the same revenue. We in Sinn Féin wanted the levy increased and the corporate tax breaks that banks get done away with because we believe that they should pay their fair share. When discussing the carbon tax, the Minister for Health stated that we had dismissed any notion of a carbon tax increase. We did not. We are not calling for the existing carbon tax to be scrapped. Rather, we have concerns about the increase because it is regressive. In the same way, I could argue that the Government could have increased the bank levy and raised revenue to invest in necessary climate action measures. All of this is about choices.

We support Financial Resolution No. 3, as limited as it is, but we would have wanted it to be different. The same can be said of the stamp duty increase. While we welcome the increase, we would have wanted it to be even larger. We had proposed an increase of 4% this year, which would have raised commercial stamp duty from 6% to 10%. I suppose our quarrel on this one concerns the amount, not the principle.

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