Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

While I agree that people get taxed on their stocks and shares, these people would have been taxed at 40% and are being taxed at a lower rate because it is on stocks and shares at point of exit. That is an overall reduction in our tax and revenue. The aspect of pay later and pay less has been the feature of a number of tax relief measures introduced by the Government over a series of Finance Bills. The aspect of pay later and pay less also underpins our private pension tax relief scheme in terms of the benefits for higher marginal rate earners. There is an issue with paying later and paying less. That is not really addressing the predictability of incomes.

Do we have a breakdown of high earners versus low earners who are benefiting from the scheme? To what extent is it larger companies versus SMEs? Has the Department engaged with stakeholders other than SMEs asking what they would like to give their employees?