Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have set out the position. USC is an important revenue source for funding many of our public services. To make this proposal cost neutral would require significant changes. For example, the proposal would have the effect of increasing the top marginal rates of tax for PAYE and self-employed income earners from 52% and 55% to 60.5% and 63.5%, respectively. A significant increase in high marginal tax rates is a disincentive to work and would cause harm to our international competitiveness.

The Deputy is assuming that the corporations his group references in its pre-budget submission every year would stay in Ireland under a Government led by the group. Many of them and their workers would fear the group leading a Government. The corporations would abandon our country out of fear that such a Government would abandon our enterprise and industrial policy, which has brought 2.7 million people into full employment and led to us running a significant surplus of €3.1 billion so far this year, which is money that we can put aside for the future so that, if our economy ever slows, we will have the ability to intervene. All of that economic planning would implode under the Deputy’s fiscal and economic policies.

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