Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the findings of a recent OECD report that has shown that the percentage tax take as a proportion of GNP has remained virtually static in the economy here from 1995 to 2005. [33194/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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While the overall share of tax as a percentage of GNP may have remained steady, the important point is that the change in composition of that tax revenue shows a greater take from property and corporate income and a decline in the income tax burden especially on the lower paid. Thus the effective rate on property and corporate income has gone up and the effective rate on the ordinary person's earnings has gone down since 1995.