Senator Mansergh referred to the favourable position for low paid workers. The most recent data available from the OECD relating to the year 2000 indicates that for a single person on the average production wage Ireland has the lowest tax wedge in the EU, the EU average tax wedge being 42.4% while the figure for Ireland is 29%. Provisional data from the EU relating to the year 2000 shows that the EU average tax wedge for 2000 for a single low paid person on 50% of the APW is 35%, while Ireland's tax wedge on that income is 14.8%. For a married couple with 50% of the APW, the tax wedge in Ireland is 3.8%, while the EU 15 average is 32.3%.