Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said we have a progressive tax system. Yes, we do but it is becoming less progressive with tax changes. One of the ways that can be equalised is to introduce refundable tax credits. Ministers have been talking about changes to the tax system in recent times. Changes to the tax system and improvements in tax credits do not assist people who do not pay tax, and that is the difficulty. Unless the Government introduces the measure of refundable tax credits, the gap between those on low incomes and those on middle and higher incomes will widen.

The other issue is that if low-paid work is made to be more beneficial, if there were a refundable tax credit, it would widen the gap between welfare and employment. That is what we should be aiming to do; to make work pay. The work by Social Justice Ireland has shown that and it has produced the figures to support it. There is a strong case there and I ask the Minister of State to reconsider the decision.

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