Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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76. To ask the Minister for Finance if the illustrative examples provided to Members of Dáil Éireann of the impact of budget 2015 are contradicted by the findings of the ESRI on the impact of the budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48855/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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It is assumed that the illustrative examples to which the Deputy refers are those included in the published Budget 2015 documentation. These illustrative cases were designed to model a range of typical scenarios to show the effects of the changes to Income Tax, USC and Child Benefit announced on Budget Day. Although not exhaustive, they are accompanied by a series of tables setting out a distributional analysis of the effect of these measures on different types of taxpayers over a wide range of income levels. The Budget book also contains tables showing the effective tax rates faced by taxpayers over a number of years. Collectively, their purpose is to communicate how individuals and families will be affected by the changes announced on Budget Day. I would remind the Deputy that water charges did not form part of measures announced in Budget 2015. The format in which this data is presented remains broadly unchanged from year to year to facilitate comparability.

It is also assumed that the ESRI findings to which the Deputy refers, relate to the distributional analysis by the ESRI of the collective impact of the water charges and the Budget 2015 receipt and expenditure measures. This is a different analysis which does not invalidate the illustrative cases put forward in the Budget documentation. For instance, the illustrative cases do not include the partial restoration of the social welfare Christmas bonus which is included in the ESRI analysis.

Notwithstanding the results of the different analyses, it remains a fact that as a result of the income tax and USC changes in Budget 2015 all those currently paying income tax and or USC will see a reduction in their tax bill next year.