Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Taoiseach for attending the Remembrance Day commemoration in Enniskillen on Sunday, the Tánaiste for attending a similar commemoration in Belfast, and the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, for attending the one in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. We wish well all those who seek to reconcile the traditions on this island. Sometimes the reconciliation may be much less than we think. The TCD roll of honour from the First World War contains names that are the same as taoisigh, such as Lynch, Lemass, Cowen, FitzGerald and Kenny. As we commemorate those events of 100 years ago, we realise it could bring us very much together.

In a recent paper by Mícheál Collins and Mary Walsh, some 131 tax expenditures, a transfer of resources that is achieved by reducing tax obligations in respect of benchmark tax rather than by direct expenditure, were estimated to cost just under ¤12 billion. They tend to be neglected in the pre-budget discussion and I ask the Leader to invite people from the Department of Finance to come in to discuss those as we all prepare for the budget on 5 December.