Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe that a huge opportunity is being lost with this plan. The Government could have the chance to make the State really responsive to the needs of our society and our people. Indeed, it could be doing things like making sure that workers will be protected, as with the earlier motion on the Debenhams workers. The Government could also work to make sure taxi drivers are cared for and looked after, along with the 35,000 workers in the entertainment and hospitality industries who have been affected and who are being totally left behind. That sector in particular generates €3.5 billion income for the State each year in the taxes it delivers. Those are the people who should be targeted as part of this response and as part of the plan to make sure the economy gets back on track again.

There is no doubt that the plan appears to have significant provisions in it, but when one looks closely at it perhaps they are not as significant as we thought. The restart grant and restart plus grant of €156 million and €145 million amount to a grant of €4,800 per application, based on the 62,699 applications paid so far. This is hardly significant, and especially when it was announced as the €25,000 grant. It is not because it works out at €4,800. Out of the 62,699 applications perhaps 300 or 400 received the €25,000.

There is the reduction in VAT from 23% to 21%, which the Government has said will boost employment and encourage spending, but will it really? The previous reduction in VAT at the low rate was mainly pocketed by businesses and was not passed on to customers. That has been seen across the board. The VAT reduction is an across-the-board reduction so a business that is doing well, as some are, will not need the reduction but will benefit from it anyway. That is not the most efficient targeting of the payment.

Other measures put money into businesses in the form of loans but there is probably more that can be done to move money, in the form of grants, into businesses. This applies especially to small and micro enterprises as this money will remain in the local area and benefit everyone around that business.

Taxpayers who spend more than €625 on accommodation, food and non-alcoholic drinks between October and April can get up to €125 back through a tax credit. How much of this money would have been spent anyway? This is a question about which there does not seem to be much discussion. For example, I may go away for the weekend, as I have usually done over that period, and I can now claim a tax credit for it. This is really just paying me back for something I would have done anyway. There is an unfairness to that payment also. Consider the low-paid workers who have been impacted most through the lockdown and who may decide to go away for the weekend. They will not qualify for the refund because they are not paying tax anyway. They will not benefit from this tax rebate. Perhaps we are saying that those people should not be able to go away anyway because they are on low pay.

It is interesting that the tax take has not been impacted by the initial period of the lockdown and the downturn in the economy because, in reality, most of the workers affected did not earn enough to pay tax. The State's taxes have held up simply because it is the low-paid workers who have lost their jobs. That in itself says a lot about the type of economy and society we have built over the last 20 years or so.

There are, however, some good things in the plan. The employment wage support scheme, which replaces the temporary wage subsidy scheme, seems to be a targeted payment, which makes sense. There has been some discussion about the reduction in payments but it is actually targeted at employees and making sure the benefit gets to them. That seems to be a good way of doing it. That will make sense. Hopefully this plan will stimulate the economy, support our workers and help in the recovery of our society from Covid, which will be needed as this crisis will go on for some time yet.

See this speech in context