Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to be fair to people who are not earning much but who are paying a lot of tax. That is a tax cost to the State and we cannot ignore that. While significant attention is given to tax breaks that get more column inches, this tax break does not get much attention. It costs approximately €300 million, increasing to €500 million. If something had not been done, who knows where it would have stopped. The term "gold-plated" becomes irrelevant.