Families with combined income of €100,000 not well-off, says Noonan

Couples with children and a combined income of more than €100,000 are not well-off, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said.

He told the Dáil that when two incomes were taken together, in a household with a teacher married to a garda, or a nurse married to a garda or a teacher, the total income was more than €100,000. “They are struggling, they barely make ends meet.’’

Mr Noonan said such couples barely got the children up in the morning and out to school, pay the bills, pay the mortgage and keep the car on the road. "This is the position in many parts of rural Ireland. ''

Wealth taxes

The Minister was responding to People Before Profit TD

Richard Boyd Barrett

, who asked about increasing taxes on higher earners over €100,000 and introducing wealth taxes.

“Our view is that imposing higher income taxes on those earning more than €100,000 would yield a great deal of revenue, put money back into the economy because it would be taken off high earners who have enough to manage anyway,’’ said Mr Boyd Barrett.

Mr Noonan said the programme for government committed the Government to maintaining the current rates of income tax, together with bands and credits, and not increase the top marginal rates.

“To do so would negatively influence individual decisions to work and harm our competitiveness. It should be acknowledged that Ireland has one of the most progressive tax systems in the world, ensuring that those on higher incomes pay proportionately higher rates of tax on their income than those on lower incomes.’’

Mr Noonan said the Government had no plans to introduce a wealth tax.

Real relief

Mr Boyd Barrett said an honest debate was needed on the issue. The bulk of the new burden being proposed by People Before Profit would be on the 10 per cent or 15 per cent of people on very high earnings, and would finance real relief for the vast majority of people earning between €30,000 and €60,000.

“They have been hammered with the universal social charge, property tax and water charges, which are regressive and disproportionately hit people on low and middle incomes.’’

Mr Noonan said if income tax was raised much more there would be a problem. “I do not know whether the deputy is following the debate in the newspapers on young doctors and the number of them leaving the country.” He said somebody he knew was relocating to Perth, where she would earn double the money and pay half the tax.