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

As the Deputy knows, many of the institutes he is quoting regarding the progressive nature of our budget are the same institutions that are saying the measures we brought in should be temporary. The one-off measures should indeed be temporary in the hope that the cost-of-living pressures about which we are all concerned begin to change and moderate, and offer an opportunity then to change the level of support we have in place if things begin to improve and prices begin to moderate. I would, therefore, make the case to Deputy Nash that it is appropriate that in evaluating the progressivity of the budget, we include the one-off measures. As I told the Deputy in my opening answer, many other measures are contained in budget day that aim to make a difference to low-income citizens who need additional supports. They should be identified as well and we should not just focus on tax in isolation.

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