The Finance Minister Brian Cowen has defended the use of tax reliefs and said that their use cannot be rejected out of hand.
"Special tax incentives do have their place as one of the tools of economic management. Each and every relief cannot be condemned unthinkingly as "good" or "bad", he said in a speech given yesterday to the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants.
"There is much confused debate in relation to tax incentives and reliefs, and vast numbers are thrown about, as if to suggest that some very small clique is walking away with billions of euro in tax concessions which are available to the general public," said Mr Cowen.
Mr Cowen is widely expected to make changes to the current tax relief regime in next month's Budget. There has been sustained criticism of the system, which is used by a number of very wealthy individuals to pay little or no tax.
The Minister is also expected to introduce some pension related tax concession and a childcare package. Mr Cowen will have around €800 million more to spend on Budget day than anticipated, according to Ulster Bank economist Pat McArdle.
The most recent Exchequer returns indicate that the deficit will come in some €1.8 billion under last year's prediction, but this does not take into account €1 billion in refunds due to nursing home residents, he said.
