Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

USC brings in over €4 billion a year. I wish we had that kind of fiscal reality statement from the Government instead of constantly giving this impression of a tax burden - "we are over-taxed", "squeezed middle", "reduce tax", and so on.

Why is the 12.5% corporation tax rate the unspeakable sacred cow of Irish politics? Why is it that the absolute sacred cow of Finnish politics, regardless of the political party or political standpoint, is equality in education? If one asks anybody from any political party in Finland what is the fundamental ethos underpinning education, they will say "equality". Even in Britain, which is tearing itself apart over Brexit, fundamentally they all believe in equality in health. They argue over it, they discuss it, but the NHS is something they cling to on either side of the aisle in Britain because they know the British people believe in equality in healthcare. What is the sacred cow here? The 12.5% corporation tax rate. What a soulless thing for us to feel so passionately about that we cannot even discuss it.

My point is that while we are in a better space than we were, for the Minister of State to suggest to the House there is now space for us to reduce tax, to shrink the size of the State, to talk about public sector reforms and to say we have spent too much money, is really insulting. Effectively, he is saying €60 billion is too much. What was the phrase he used? He said:

Each year central government spends more than €60 billion. I am convinced that scope remains to improve the efficiency with which this sum is allocated.

I know what that means. The phraseology here is focused on public sector reform.