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

The programme for Government provides a commitment to develop processes that will study and advance social solidarity and equality of opportunity and look at how we can bring forward measures that are better for the ecology and environment of our country. In accordance with this commitment, my Department undertakes an analysis of the distributional impact of the main tax and welfare measures in the budget. The analysis assesses the impact of these measures on weekly equivalised household disposable income, by level of income and across different household types. As such, it takes account of different household sizes and compositions.

The short answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". A distributional analysis of budget 2023 will be undertaken and published on budget day. It will include a new budget document on quality-of-life indicators. The publication will also include analysis of the progressivity of the tax system, green budgeting, equality budgeting and well-being metrics. The distributional analysis will be undertaken using the ESRI’s SWITCH tax-benefit model, which will be used to analyse the impacts of direct tax and welfare measures. This will be combined with analysis from a model jointly developed by the Department of Finance and the ESRI to examine the impacts of indirect taxes. I confirm again to the House that the budget the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy McGrath, and I will present on Tuesday will aim at responding to the cost-of-living challenges that we know so many are facing at the moment and will build on the measures implemented earlier in the year.

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