Jim Higgins (Fine Gael)

I welcome that the Minister is prepared to consider this in the context of next year's deliberations. There is a marked lack of consistency in this area. The Minister said unemployment benefit is taxed, but that is a substitute income for somebody who has dropped out of employment. Provided the person in question has enough social insurance stamps, they qualify for such a payment. This change has come about because a very perceptive inspector of taxes decided the damages element of an award should be taxed in the same way as the loss of earnings element.