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

The Deputy has been against every attempt to broaden the tax base. He is against all our attempts to do that. He is against carbon tax. He is against local property tax. I ask him not to stand up here and point out to me the dangers of a narrow tax base when he is against any efforts to widen it. He has been against our running budget surpluses, which are in place to deal with the very kinds of risks that could materialise. While we have increased public expenditure in recent years to respond to the many challenges we have faced and the many needs within our society, we, and I in particular, have also made the case for running budget surpluses to give us the flexibility for what the future could bring. The Deputy has been against doing that. I ask him not to stand up here now, newly aware of the risks in the world economy, and point out to me what we should have done in the past when he has been against doing it.

We will engage with the US as members of the European Union in our meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, when we will consider this issue further.

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