Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael)

It is €2.2 billion that comes out of the general pot. That is a considerable amount of money that must be brought in in taxation to give it back out.

I welcome the fact that there was no impact on primary social welfare rates. I agree with Senator O'Brien that it is a mistake to go after the disability payments, in particular, for those between the ages of 18 and 24. I am quite prepared to stand up here and identify areas of concern. That is what all of us, on both sides of the Chamber, get paid for. There is a few days for that matter to be reconsidered, potentially, to find those savings elsewhere.

On the Minister, Deputy Noonan's estimate relating to165,000 males and females from the construction sector, it is a colossal number of people who are mainly unemployed. I will not touch on the legacy of the tax code but rather the area of the small investor. In a quasi-investor way people invested in property. I am pleased the Minister is proposing not to impact on those in respect of tax reliefs. Instead he is differentiating between the large investor, institutional investors and the small investor. Those are farmers, gardaí, teachers and people all over the place who made unwise investments. Section 19 of the NAMA Act welcomed the banking sector in respect of €3.5 billion for both and €4 billion for the following year.

On tax exiles I would favour the carrot and stick approach. Tax exiles are welcome to participate in Ireland. We have a generous regime in order that they can come and go and pay something. However, if they are not prepared to pay I suggest they live elsewhere and be allowed to come back to Ireland on holidays for a couple of weeks per year, other than which they should not be facilitated. Given that they have a large amount of funds, they could contribute to certain areas which would be helpful.