Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have had this conversation with the Senator on multiple occasions. I disagree with her view. People have heard me say many times, both here and in the other House, that the major adjustment in Irish society is the income tax take. According to the figures up to the end of November 2017, the income tax take is €18.3 billion to date. That is with a month to go until the end of the year. As the Senator has heard me say on multiple occasions, the low point was a take of €11 billion and the expectation is that we will clear €20 billion in 2017. That has been the major adjustment and I do not apologise to anybody for giving a little bit back to working people on the lower income thresholds. I disagree with the Senator completely on that. An extra €9 billion has been collected in income taxes and the Government proposes to give a couple of hundred million euro back to the people on low and middle rates of pay. I do not see how Senator Conway-Walsh and Sinn Féin, who purport to be on the left and to support people on low pay and the like, can disagree with that.

Regarding regional imbalance, everything that I have done since I have gone into the job I am doing in respect of financial services has been to promote the regions and rural Ireland. The last three companies with which I have been involved in securing jobs were YapStone in Drogheda, MetLife in Galway, and Prudential in Letterkenny. We are doing enough to reduce the regional imbalance and improve the regions as best we can. It is the position worldwide that most companies want to go to the cities. We are trying to work against the headwind on that and are being successful. Perhaps we are not as successful as some people may like but there absolutely has been a change. I must disagree completely with the Senator on the income tax take in this country.

To conclude, this is a high-tax economy. The two areas where taxes are low are the pay-related social insurance, PRSI, take and the wealth tax, that is, property tax. Again, as Sinn Féin is opposed to any changes in those, the Senator needs to have a look at her figures and at her psychology in choosing the areas to have high taxes, not at ours.