Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The recently agreed PRSI rate increases, although still very significantly under the EU average, achieve a fair balance between addressing the long-term sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund and maintaining the State pension age at 66. The proposal is not unduly impinging on the incomes of workers and the cost of doing business in Ireland.

There is a very simple point that I believe the Deputy missed. If you keep piling all the costs on the employers, their businesses may not survive, meaning we will have no jobs. That is what happens; it is very simple. Increasing the employer rate by such a margin would clearly lead to very significant pressures on employers with regard to the affordability of retaining staff, expanding their workforces and generally keeping their businesses sustainable. The proposal is for small incremental increases across the board. If you target one cohort alone, the amount will have to be bigger; it is as simple as that. Therefore, what we are doing is right.

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