Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I feel privileged that I am the only person being talked over here this afternoon. The argument about savings is redundant following EUROSTAT's comprehensive destruction of the attempt by the Government to have Irish Water counted off the books. The abolition of water charges is not only fair but also achievable and affordable. The Sinn Féin vision for a fairer tax system will mean that some will pay more. Some will pay more - not struggling families, but those who can afford to pay it. As before, we propose that a third rate of tax be introduced in order that individuals, not couples, who earn in excess of €100,000 per year will pay some extra tax on the portion of pay over €100,000. We will talk about a wealth tax to discuss how some of those who earn the most in the country will be taxed for that. I refer again to the figures published by Credit Suisse and the CSO earlier this year which show that the wealth held by the top 20% is, respectively, 72.5% or 72.7%. That means that roughly one in five people own three quarters of the value of all the land, housing and financial assets in the State. That needs to be looked at. Our proposals are costed, they are realistic and we will be happy to provide them to the Minister of State in the coming week when we finalise them in advance of the budget.

Looking to services in the coming years, as has been mentioned, the State faces demands for higher expenditure in the areas of health, education, social protection and pensions as the composition of our population changes. In addition, the cost of providing the existing level of public services is likely to rise in line with the forecast general rise in prices and wages in the economy. In respect of the announcement yesterday, the economist Michael Taft has argued that the projected €27 billion expenditure on public investment between 2016 and 2021, as outlined, represents stagnation. He bases that on some statistics and figures, namely, that in 2015 public investment made up to 1.8% of GDP and the €27 billion package over six years represents 1.9% of GDP. That means that between this year and 2021, the average annual increase in public investment will be less than €250 million.

We in Sinn Féin will not pretend we can have better public services while people pay less and less tax. That would be dishonest of us. If we want better public services, we will have to pay for them. Our fairer tax system will deliver those sound revenues and more and better targeted public spending. In his speech, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, noted that our commitment to our citizens in these areas requires that we consider these trends in the future and plan accordingly. That is why in our pre-budget submission, which I referred to and which we will be presenting, we will be looking at that taxation system to ensure we can provide these services into the future.