Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the next few months, Ministers will meet to plan the budget for 2019. It is appropriate that we have a debate here on taxation. Some of the complaints I now receive from employers, particularly with regard to doctors and nurses, are about going into the higher tax bracket once they go over €34,500 in earnings and comparing this with taxation levels in Northern Ireland and the UK. We are competing for workers with those areas now. This morning, I spoke to a builder who brought people back from England to work here on building sites. He advised me they are now returning to the UK because they find the tax rates here extremely high and they would be better off staying in the UK. It is now a problem and we need to look at our taxation system. While we need to ensure we have adequate money to improve services, we also need to ensure we can compete on the world market for people in many areas, from the building industry to the hotel industry to the medical area. We should have a debate in the House in April or early May on this issue with regard to taxation and future planning.