Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Finance the reason he has not included the €0.4 billion raised by the universal social charge in his carry-forward for 2012 (table 2.1, Mid-Term Fiscal Statement, November 2011); the further reason this €0.4 billion is captured in the budgetary projections for 2012; if he will confirm that when taken into account the USC carry-forward raises the total amount of tax consolidation for 2012 to €2 billion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37175/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The estimated carry-forward from the Universal Social Charge (USC) is not included as part of the carry-forward for revenue measures for 2012 in the Medium-Term Fiscal Statement (MTFS) as that publication sought to present the numbers in a manner that was as consistent as possible with the presentation in the EU/IMF Programme as agreed last year. A footnote was included in the MTFS to the effect that the USC is also expected to deliver an additional €0.4 billion in revenues in 2012 and that while this does not form part of the €3.8 billion consolidation package it is captured in the budgetary projections. The reason it is captured in the tax revenue projection for 2012 is because income tax is expected to benefit in 2012 from these estimated additional receipts. To not capture these receipts in the estimate of income tax for 2012 would be incorrect.