Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Finance Bill includes an income tax package that is clearly designed to give more to higher income earners. When one strips back the temporary but absolutely necessary interventions in this Finance Bill, the stark reality is laid bare. It abysmally fails to address the growing inequality that is crippling our society. It is not only me and Sinn Féin saying that. Social Justice Ireland estimates that this Finance Bill will widen the gap between rich and poor by €199 next year. It has stated that Ireland's poorest will be worse off when the one-off measures in budget 2023 are discontinued. The change to the highest income tax rate is the most expensive measure in the Bill but despite the cost to the public finances, 2.2 million workers will not benefit at all. This is unfair and economically reckless.

Low-income families spend heavily within the local economy, thereby supporting indigenous business and jobs. Businesses in small towns are now hibernating or getting ready to hibernate for the winter months because that is the only way that many of them will be able to survive. The reduced footfall and escalating costs combine to a reality where debts accumulate. Every choice made by the Government in this Finance Bill will have a knock-on effect on local economies. When we tally all the tax measures, people earning €100,000 will benefit four times as much as those earning €35,000. It is a measure designed to benefit high earners and leave low- and middle-income earners to face into the winter and a cost-of-living crisis.

The Government plans to push house prices up through the badly designed defective blocks levy. There are elements of the Government housing policy that can be tracked back to Sinn Féin, for instance, the tax back for renters and the ban on evictions. I welcome those measures. They are watered-down versions of our policies but at least they are a step in the right direction. The tax rebate will only work if there is ban on increases and we need to end the rip-off rents.

We need to delay the introduction of the new benefit-in-kind regime until some form of distinction can be made between a company car as a perk and company vehicles that are essential for work-related activity. That is important. I ask the Minister to look again at that measure to see how we can introduce some fairness.

I welcome the fact that student accommodation is now included in the tax rebate but there are still too many people paying rent who are excluded. I am concerned because the tax rebate will only extend to renters in accommodation registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. We know that many students will not meet that criterion. I ask the Minister to consider that matter and see how all people who are paying rent can be accommodated.

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