Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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4. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline Exchequer returns and tax receipts for January 2025; and the reason they have increased since this time last year. [5104/25]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Ireland is the most exposed country in Europe as regards the potential changes in tariffs and corporation taxes with the United States. We are enormously exposed. Our dependence on a bargain-basement corporation tax economy which has been built up by the Government over the past ten years means we are now under significant threat. What actions is the Minister taking to engage with the US Government on the tariff issue and the corporation tax issue?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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That is not the question the Deputy put to me. The question he put to me-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is related.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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No. Let us be clear. The question the Deputy put to me, which is the question I will answer initially - I will go on to clarify - reads: "To ask the Minister for Finance if he will outline Exchequer returns and tax receipts for January 2025 ... " That is the question that was put to me, and I will answer it. I am happy then to elaborate beyond that on the further points the Deputy has made.

The Exchequer returns that were published last week show a broad continuation of trends observed over the course of the past few years, with the public finances - at least in headline terms - in a relatively healthy position. Tax revenues of €8.4 billion were collected in January, 7.2% up on the same month last year. When one-off revenues arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling of 10 September 2024 are included, our tax revenues in January amounted to over €10 billion. Income tax and VAT recorded steady growth in January, signalling the overall strength of our economy.

On the other side of the equation, total gross voted expenditure to the end of January amounted to €9.2 billion, an increase of 22.7% on the same month a year ago. Taking into account other factors such as non-tax revenue and non-voted expenditure, an underlying surplus of €1.8 billion was recorded for January. This rises to €3.6 billion if the Court of Justice of the European Union receipts are included. This is not a source of complacency. Much of the budget surplus at present reflects the strength of corporation tax revenues, which are heavily concentrated among a small number of firms and sectors.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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For 2023, income tax was roughly €33 billion, corporation tax was the next largest, at €24 billion, and VAT came in at about €20 billion. Those figures and the figures the Minister has just outlined show that there is a significant exposure for this country. Because of the potential changes with the US Administration, we could be looking at significant job losses, significant corporation tax losses and a significant fall in income taxes in this country, as well as austerity being brought into place because of the lack of taxation within the budgets to be able to pay for the services that have been built up over recent decades. What actions is the Minister taking with the US Administration to make sure that those tax bases do not evaporate over the next while?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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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.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Foreign direct investment, FDI, is considered a transitional economic policy. It is usually developed from a non-developed economy to try to get into a developed system. When that economy has developed to a good stage, most economies then try to develop indigenous economy because it is usually much stickier and less mobile as regards threats internationally. Obviously, they use strong indigenous economy and a decent FDI input. This country has never moved on from FDI in terms of its economic policy and, therefore, has left itself significantly exposed.

The Minister's Government continues to do that by not ensuring we have a strong indigenous economy. I have argued in this Chamber and committees for years that Fine Gael should want to collect more corporation tax instead of the bargain basement corporation taxes the Minister's party stood for for a long time. What actions is the Government taking now and is it going to completely outsource its actions to the European Union-----

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy and call the Minister to conclude.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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-----given Ireland is the most exposed country in Europe?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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We got a real insight into the thinking of Deputy Tóibín and Aontú there. He characterised foreign direct investment as transitional investment in jobs. Is he going to tell the people who work for the semiconductor sector here that their jobs are transitional?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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They are transitional because the Government has made them transitional.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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When he leaves Leinster House later, is he going to go down to the docks on the north side and the south side-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That is not what I am saying and the Minister knows that.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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It is what he is saying.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is not. The Minister is being facetious now.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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A moment ago he described that investment as transitional investment. I invite him to visit our life science sector, which is located across the length and breadth of Ireland-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Government has made us dependent upon it-----

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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-----to go down to the financial services sector------

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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-----by not progressing it to the next stage and developing it.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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-----to go into the manufacturing jobs-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That is the point I am trying to make-----

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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-----that are located in his constituency and near it.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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-----and the Minister knows that.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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He should walk into those workplaces and tell those people that their jobs are transitional.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Minister is being incredibly cynical.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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We got an insight into the thinking of Aontú there. The Deputy went on to say we are outsourcing our sovereignty. That is the thinking of the 1950s and 1960s. It is not the thinking that has enabled this country to grow its prosperity. It is not the approach that will help us navigate our way through the challenges that are there.