Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

Deputy Nash knows I have the height of respect for him and the points he raises. He is correct in saying that the Labour Party is a rare exception on the Opposition benches in being willing to support, at times, sensible policies to broaden the tax base. He asked me my views on broadening the tax base. I will talk about what we have already done and what we are yet to do. There are: the changes with regard to PRSI to ensure that our pension plans will be better funded in the future; the changes we have made to carbon taxation, which, in fairness to the Labour Party, it has supported, to find better ways of funding the spending we need to make with regard to climate change; and the changes we have made in revaluing and extending the tax base with regard to local property tax, which, again, in fairness to it, the Labour Party has supported.

On the Deputy's point on narrowing the tax base, I am keenly aware of that, which is why the tax package we bring forward for budget 2026 cannot and should not exceed €1.5 billion. That €1.5 billion is approximate to the income that will be generated through our tax code by our economy growing. It is my strong view that those is the parameter within which tax changes should be made.

I really welcome the opportunity for a debate on these matters, including the broad economic policy of our country, but the budget surpluses we are running, where they are going at the moment, is a very strong response from this Government to ensure resilience and safety in our public finances.

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