Results 3,781-3,800 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the number of those who will benefit from the increase is 1.07 million taxpayer units, which is 33% of our taxpayer base. That represents all taxpayers who are liable to income tax at the higher rate. On the €30,000 figure, Deputy Doherty will be aware that the average effective tax rate on someone paying €30,000 is 14.2%. While no doubt they...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is right in his first question. Someone on €35,000 will benefit from the electricity credit that has been brought in and the rent credit that we will come to in a moment but at that level of income they are also outside the means-tested benefits that have been changed by the Minister for Social Protection. I accept the Deputy's point but I would still make the case that it...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The figures are accurate, but the difference between the ones I am making the case for and the ones the Deputy is making the case for is the impact of the credit.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not have the median income forecast with me, but I will get it for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: But they benefit from the credits.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: We are discussing the change in the standard rate cut-off point. The median income is below the level at which the change in the standard rate cut-off point applies, which is why we have made the change in the tax credits. I also dispute the Deputy's figure for the number of people who will benefit. I am making the case to the committee, because I believe it to be the case, that more than...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, it is the case.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: In cash terms, they will not see a difference.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: It is not "in Paschal's head", Deputy. I am talking about the people I meet who are plumbers, gardaí or early in their careers who are on €39,000 or €40,000 and are paying the higher rate of income tax.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: That is not a figment of my imagination. It is a structural issue that we should change. The Deputy and I have different views on it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: What I am proposing-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy made a point about median earnings. Does he accept that the average income in our economy is €46,000 per person?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: But the Deputy would-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Just as I accept the Deputy's good faith in the quoting of numbers, does he accept my good faith when I tell him that the average wage in our economy in the first quarter of 2022 was €46,000?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Does the Deputy believe it appropriate that someone on the average wage already pays the higher rate of income tax?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: So the Deputy accepts that it is not appropriate that someone on the average wage should be on the higher rate of income.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: Under Sinn Féin's proposals, someone earning €37,685 would have a benefit of €313 per annum and under the proposals contained in this budget, somebody who is on the same level of income would gain more, with a benefit of €368.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: No, I am not.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is pivoting into the approach again where he is trying to make me a member of an elite who does not understand what it is like for people who are on an average wage. That is what the Deputy's approach is but I would challenge the Deputy-----