Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For my part I will call out the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin members, who say they want to tackle climate change but oppose carbon taxation. I will call out the hypocrisy of a party whose Deputies lambaste measures in our country while standing over weaker and less impactful measures in Northern Ireland. I will not accept claims by Sinn Féin, Deputy Doherty or any Opposition Deputy that I, my party or this Government are motivated by anything other than supporting ordinary workers and families, the ordinary taxpayers of this country and their jobs. That motivates everything that I and this Government do.

Deputy Doherty made several claims a moment ago. He talked about SARP. Perhaps we will discuss that scheme as part of the debate on the Finance Bill 2020. The only reason we have a scheme like that is that we exist in a world which Deputy Doherty either does not understand or does not want to recognise. Other countries want the jobs that we have brought to Ireland. That is why we have this scheme. We have corporation tax schemes because foreign direct investment is valuable. Other countries compete for it. The jobs that are sustained in this country by policies that I and the previous Government have stood over, which Deputy Doherty and Sinn Féin have relentlessly attacked, are one of the engines of our tax take. These policies keep jobs in our country at a time of such need.

We will have a debate about the Finance Bill 2020. In the years to come we will have a debate about the kind of economy we want and the policies we will need. This economy's ability to recover and raise the tax revenue we will need has been created by the very policies Deputy Doherty and Sinn Féin have relentlessly opposed and voted against.

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