Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to the two specific points as I know the Senator has had a good discussion with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, already. On the issue of the introduction of refundable tax credits, they could potentially prove to be very costly and provide relatively little benefit to the majority of individuals, including those working full-time and earning at least the national minimum wage, because such workers generally fully utilise their tax credits. Furthermore, refundable tax credits could also have potential behavioural impacts on labour supply and reduce the incentive to work or to take on additional work. Finally, implementing a system of refundable tax credits would result in operational and administrative complexities as well as potentially reducing eligibility for some existing supports for low income thresholds.

On tax reliefs more generally, there are very few tax reliefs at the marginal rate, such as pensions, as were discussed earlier by the Minister, Deputy Chambers. If there is any additional information missing, the Department will undertake to send it to the Senator.