Oireachtas

Budget a "tax take away", claims FF spokesman

OVER this year and last the Government will increase the tax take by almost 16 per cent, a Fianna Fail frontbencher, Mr Willie…

Thu Feb 01 1996 - 00:00

OVER this year and last the Government will increase the tax take by almost 16 per cent, a Fianna Fail frontbencher, Mr Willie O'Dea, claimed. During resumed debate on the Budget, he said it had been presented as a tax give away exercise. "In reality it is more like a tax take away."

Last year, taxes overall rose by 7.5 per cent. This year there would be a further increase of 8.2 per cent. That was why economic growth was not being translated into increased employment.

There were also the higher taxes on petrol and cigarettes and the proposed increase in ESB charges, all of which would be inflationary. Yet the Government failed to provide for the essential extra prison places, the planning for which was in place when it took office.

The concessions in PRSI in the Budget were largely cancelled by higher ceilings, such as the reduction in employers' PRSI from 12.2 to 12 per cent, while the contribution ceiling was raised to £25,500 - another example of the "revolving door", Mr O'Dea said.

READ MORE

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, said there were indications the decline in agriculture had slowed down. Total employment in the sector had fallen by only 1,000 between 1994 and 1995, which reflected the success of a range of supports for the farming community and rural enterprise.

Mr Michael Ferris (Lab, Tipperary South) said we had finally broken free from the cycle of growth without employment. There were over 40,000 new jobs created last year and the latest predictions were that the trend would continue.

Mr Trevor Sargent (Green Party, Dublin North) said the Budget shied away from any radical solutions such as the basic wage. That would do away with bureaucracy. Everyone would benefit, including the present social welfare recipients who would be free to work if they wanted without losing their so called benefits. People at work would receive the basic wage instead of their tax allowances.

Mr Joe Costello (Lab, Dublin Central) said the Progressive Democrats claimed the Budget was a failure because it did not include large scale tax cuts. But they failed to say that these tax cuts would have to be paid for by wholesale spending cuts. It was a recipe for more greed and naked individualism.