Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Most, if not all, Senators, referred to yesterday's Exchequer returns. Several Senators suggested we should have an anticipatory debate on possible budgetary measures. Many speakers speculated on the Government actions that will be taken after the Opposition parties and the social partners have been consulted. On the question of whether the actions in question constitute a budget, I think it is clear to say that it is a rose by any other name. Even before the onset of the current economic crisis, it had long been suggested that the theatre of the Budget Statement, as an annual event during which all decisions on taxation and social welfare are announced, needed to be changed. As I recall, Fine Gael's spokesman on finance, Deputy Bruton, suggested in a reform paper that the era of the annual budget needed to pass into history. I agree that all Governments need to have the flexibility to anticipate events, to react to them as they happen and to introduce new fiscal measures on foot of them.

The reality is that Exchequer returns are produced monthly rather than daily or weekly. The returns for February 2009, which were published yesterday, when taken in addition to those for January 2009, show there has been a decrease of €1.8 billion in anticipated tax receipts for the first two months of the year. If we factor them across an entire year, it is clear that a gaping hole will need to be addressed. The statement made by the Government yesterday, that further measures will be needed by the end of this month, represented the first step in that process. Certain measures are needed in the taxation area. I am confident that following the report of the Commission on Taxation, which is examining wider aspects of taxation policy, including equity and efficiency, we will have a taxation system that is much fairer than the system we have at present. It has to be put into context. The percentage of national income accounted for by tax receipts is far smaller in this country than in most other European countries. The relevant figure in Ireland is approximately 35%, whereas it is over 40% in most European countries.