Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

It is not an excuse. On a number of occasions we have called for a debate on the policies in Northern Ireland, of which this is a part, and we would welcome such a debate in the future. To clarify the thinking behind the figure of €75,000, it is Sinn Féin's policy - we are very consistent about it - that the wealthier in our society should be paying extra taxes. Senator Landy and the Minister described this as an interim measure to last for two years. If this is the case, why did the Government not introduce an interim measure which would take 1% of the wealth off the people who have capital in excess of €1 million? That would have been an interim measure which would hit the more wealthy.

However, instead the Government chose to introduce an interim measure which the Senator agreed his party had campaigned against prior to the general election. His party said it was unfair because it hit everybody equally and it was also unfair to the person on a very low income compared to a person living in a mansion. The logic behind the figure of €75,000 was to push this extra tax which is being forced through by the Government, onto those who are in the higher bracket, as opposed to those in the lower bracket.

Sinn Féin has consistently stated that people earning more than €100,000 should be charged a third rate of income tax at 48%. The logic behind the figure of €75,000 is to make the people who are earning in excess of this figure, the people with more disposable income, pay this type of charge. We made this argument previously and if the Senator had been in the Chamber he would have heard it.

We will be pressing this amendment. The important point is that this is about poverty-proofing. We are not saying that all these criteria have to be absolutely adhered to but rather the committee which will examine the poverty-proofing study should take these points into account. This would be part of the process of examining who are the people on whom this charge impacts and whether they are in a position to pay. It is also a case of asking whether we fully realise what is meant by poverty and what will be the cumulative impact of all these extra charges.

The Government is crowing about not increasing income tax but this does not mean that people's disposable income is not reduced because it will be. Income tax is not being increased but the Government is putting its hands in the pockets of poor people. It is taking more money out of their pockets and it will not be in their bank accounts at the end of the year. As a result, more people will be in a position of poverty because of measures such as this. We argue that every legislative measure should take into consideration all those in the poverty trap. These measures being introduced by the Government will result in more people being in that situation.