Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This recommendation provides that within three months of the passing of this Bill, the Minister will lay a report before the Houses setting out options for taxation changes that would allow for a significant increase in income thresholds at the top rate of tax. The current income threshold is €32,800 and it kicks in at 41%. I fully accept that once this Bill is passed, the threshold will be €33,800 at 40% and I accept that this is improvement. The Minister spoke very eloquently, as I hope the rest of us did yesterday, about the burden of tax on people. I am fairly stunned by some of the figures I worked up to see how we compare. I will repeat some of the figures I mentioned yesterday. At the moment, we compare very poorly with other countries such as our nearest neighbour, the UK. In the UK, one would need to earn over £150,000 to go on to the top rate of tax. This is five times the figure in Ireland. In France, the figure at €70,000 is more than double the figure here. France would be considered a fairly socially equitable country that favours income redistribution and fairness.