Simon Harris
Wicklow · Fine Gael · Ireland
“There are more than 10,000 routes and thousands of buses involved and the number of students using the services is not a million miles away from 200,000. The current terms of the scheme are going to continue to apply for the 2026-27 school year.”
“I thank Deputy McDonald for raising what is genuinely an important issue. I do take the point that when we talk about this in the abstract or from a process point of view in here, that for people watching this is their real lived experience.”
“There number of children who have been supported by means of the school transport scheme, as Deputy Fitzmaurice knows and has alluded to, has grown significantly in recent years. Since 2018, the number increased from 120,000 in 2018 to more than 181,000 now. Included in that figure are 24,000 pupils with special educational needs.”
“I knew the Deputy would have to mention the GAA, especially with Galway and Limerick playing at the weekend. I wish everybody involved the best of luck. We are very committed to the school transport scheme. If the Deputy wants to see our commitment, he should look to our budget.”
“An ageing population, increasing healthcare needs, the transition to net zero and the need for continued investment in housing, energy and infrastructure will place a significant demand on public resources.”
“There is also a legitimacy to the point the Deputy made about how it is a legitimate form of transport for some people. We see this working in other European countries. We see it in our nearest neighbours. I do not want to get the regime wrong, but I think they have registration at the point of purchase that allows people to track this.”
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“I spoke to the chief executive officer of Tusla this morning and I understand that there are around 69 of these centres. Nineteen of those centres are due to be registered from 1 May. There is a further plan regarding another 19 of them too. I genuinely believe Tusla is working its way through this with a real sense of urgency. It has closed six centres and stopped working with them, and there have been five Garda referrals over a period of time. The Deputy mentioned some absolute horrors, as is his right in this House. I do not want anyone to think that any part of this country, service in this country or any individual in this country is beyond the reproach of An Garda Síochána or the law in this land. I think the CEO said connections with six centres have been ceased and there have been five Garda referrals.”
“Many fine people are working in Tusla. I do not think the Deputy is taking from that fact. They are working in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and often with very complex cases. I acknowledge them because they are doing good work, which is important to say. On the specific issue the Deputy raised about the use of special emergency arrangements, this is effectively where the State becomes reliant on a private operator to provide accommodation in an emergency situation. It is good to see that the reliance on that is being reduced, although it is still too high. I think it has been reduced from around 170 children in special emergency arrangements last year to 70 but Tusla is now working to reduce that further in the coming months.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising last night's programme. It is a programme which has been extraordinarily difficult for people across the country to watch. First and foremost, I thank the young people who came forward and shared their experience of the care system. It takes a lot of courage and bravery to do so and to do so in such a public manner. I commend "RTÉ Investigates" on the work it did on this. It highlighted a number of very challenging cases and indeed upsetting cases about vulnerable children who the State should support and protect. Of that, there is no doubt. Listening to some of the negative experiences, although frankly that phrase does not capture it, so I should say listening to some of the horrors that some very vulnerable children have endured while entrusted to the care of our State raises significant questions.”
“I welcome the support of the Deputy’s party, I think, and most parties in this House in terms of other ways we can look at Dublin City Council having potentially ring-fenced funding whether that is a tourism levy or the likes - I am very eager to explore that – on the understanding that the funding goes directly into issues in Dublin city. We have seen other areas. The Minister for justice is present. We have seen a real focus on and progress in Garda numbers in the city and that has been widely acknowledged by people when I visit the Deputy’s constituency as well.”
“It was May 2024. I became Taoiseach in April 2024 so it was May 2024 that we announced the plan to put this in place. Now, in 2026, we are already seeing delivery on that. The Deputy is actually right about the living city initiative. There was a rigidity around the living city initiative that, quite frankly, was making it too hard for people to benefit from. That is why we made a number of changes to it. I genuinely hope we see the benefits of that, most particularly to the changes relating to above-the-shop development. There has been some funding, though, through the urban regeneration fund already.”
“That is why we are providing more funding for the Dublin homeless region and have provided funding of around €400 million in 2026; why we have provided local authorities with statutory discretion around HAP payments above the prescribed maximum rent limit; and why we recently met as a Government with Dublin City Council, its director of housing and its chief executive – that is myself, the Taoiseach, the Minister for housing and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing - to see what more can be done in relation to faster delivery of social housing. I accept it is an area in which we have a huge amount more work to do but both pieces of work are important. Driving implementation of the Dublin city centre task force is key while also, obviously, tackling the homeless emergency in the country.”
“Now we have that SPV to drive delivery too. I am proud, quite frankly, of the vision of the Dublin city centre task force. I think people far away from Dublin can take an interest in this too because we all want to see a capital city that is vibrant and thriving but that does not take away from the point the Deputy made because that point is very valid. Homelessness in our country, but also in our capital city, is still far too high. In certain parts of our country, there is a particularly high number of people as well; I do not like to use the word “concentration”. We know while homelessness is a national problem, it is a problem that disproportionately impacts Dublin.”
“I believe Dublin City Council is this week progressing the establishment of the special purpose vehicle, SPV. The Deputy will be aware of the appointment the Government has made of someone to head that up and drive that in the person of Robert Watt; that Dublin City Council has allocated staff with the technical skills to a programme management unit to drive delivery and it is now working on an integrated area strategy; the changes we made to the living city initiative to make sure more buildings in Dublin, including in his constituency, can qualify for reliefs to bring them back into use as homes, including above the shop, and removing any restriction in relation to that; and the very significant money we have provided through the various renewal funds around Parnell Square culture quarter, the fruit and vegetable market and the plans in relation to the GPO as well.”
“I thank the Deputy. I remember very well standing at the GPO for what was a very important moment for Dublin with the launch of the Dublin city task force report. I say that because it was a report that had nothing to do with me. I decided that we should have a task force for Dublin but the report is the culmination of an incredible body of work done by many people, including many Members, many people across the political divide, all of the agencies, the city council and its excellent chief executive, Richard Shakespeare, and many other bodies, among them the HSE, An Garda Síochána and business groups, which fed into the vision. I know the Deputy knows that too but I wanted to say that. That was the outworking of that. Since then, we have seen real progress in the implementation of the report.”
“What we need to do is have a much more intensive process now to engage with workers, their representatives and business representative bodies in the weeks ahead.”
“Whether it is a franchise or a small independent business, there are hardworking, decent people running these places too. They employ PAYE workers too. I will stand in any of these cafés, restaurants or rural pubs that serve food and say to people that the reduction we have brought about from July on VAT is a reduction in the cost base of that business. At a time of real pressure, reducing costs on business is good. We can disagree on that point and agree on a broader point. There is a need to have broader engagement with wider society and representative groups on how we get ourselves through this moment of challenge. I found, and I certainly do not mean they were not tough on us or that they agree with us on everything, that the engagement we had with ICTU, IBEC and members of the LEEF to be very good.”
“A sector that employs well over 140,000 people directly needs our support. I am not flying any kites but when I am asked a question I try to answer it. I was asked whether there will be a personal income tax package in the budget; yes, there will. I want to make another point as the Deputy has raised this with me many times. The country we saw in recent weeks regarding blockades is not who we are. We all know we are better than that as a people. People are angry and frustrated and there are real issues; I get that. However, we have to have really good structures for engagement in place with democratically constituted national bodies. We had a very good meeting in the past week of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, with the ICTU, and others. It made points not too dissimilar to the Deputy’s.”
“I was in the Deputy's constituency this week. I doubt when he goes into his local café in Drogheda, and we all have a local café in our community, he looks at the man or woman behind the counter and says good afternoon to Mr. or Mrs baron because he knows in his heart of hearts, as a former Minister in the Department of enterprise, that the overwhelming majority of hospitality businesses are small businesses. He knows they are the heartbeat of rural and regional Ireland and they employ four, five or ten people. He knows that whatever the merits or demerits, and I accept we have a full policy difference, of our position on the budget, it is more essential we reduce their cost base. What would the Deputy be saying to me if we had not done anything to support the hospitality sector in the budget?”
“Beyond that, I make the point that the package we brought forward is one everybody benefits from. I will explain why. The chief economist in the Department of Finance has estimated, and he said this on the day we published the spring forecast, that whatever inflation ends up being - we all want to suppress any increase - will be approximately 0.6% lower each of the months of May, June and July then it would otherwise have been. That person the Deputy quite rightly mentioned, and we all know them, who is in the supermarket and worried about the cost of food going up - by keeping inflation down through the package, we are having a positive impact on what that supermarket bill would have been otherwise. On VAT 9%, and the Deputy got a lot of mileage since the previous budget out of the old burger baron cut, I want to ask him about it.”
“We will not be bringing forward a mini budget but we did introduce a €750 million package, the second largest in the European Union and two and a half times the European average, less than two weeks ago. I take some of the points the Deputy made on sectoral interests versus everybody. There is something in that. However, I will make two points regarding that. First, there are some sectors where it simply makes sense when there is a fuel crisis to prioritise an intervention. We are not all the same in terms of our fuel consumption. A haulier or a farm contractor has a very significant fuel bill. It made sense for all of us to keep our supply chains in certain crucial sectors of the Irish economy going. I do not think the Deputy and I disagree on that; he has acknowledged some sectors need help.”
“We made a decision to expand it to 50,000 more low-income, working families. Here is the difference between being in government and opposition; we cannot come in here every Thursday and effectively propose we do another budget. I want to make sure we have options at budget time. We already took a very significant intervention and stand ready to take further interventions. However, we will not have the options we require as a country if we try and have a budget every Thursday.”
“Truthfully, it is quite the opposite. We have already brought forward a package of €750 million. That is the opposite of refusing to act; it is acting. It is concrete, meaningful action and people see it at the pump. They know that the diesel price is lower than it was before. It is still too high but people know it is lower. They know the petrol price is lower than it was. Hauliers and their representative body have welcomed the package. Farmers and their representative body have welcomed the package. We continue to work and engage with many stakeholders including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, and many others. The Deputy should also acknowledge that never before in the history of the State have more people been in receipt of a fuel allowance.”
“As the Deputy and all of us know in the context of this crisis, no matter what happens in Iran, the damage done now to the energy infrastructure means it will take a significant time to repair. Therefore, we have to be agile. On the Deputy's point on the surplus, I am very pleased that there is a surplus. It did not come about by accident and did not fall from the sky. The sensible, pro-enterprise policies that this country has implemented mean that we have a fiscal buffer built up. The surplus is not just sitting idle. It is going into infrastructure and climate adaptation, through those funds, and into the Future Ireland Fund to meet, for example, pension requirements. It provides us with options.”
“The Deputy will remember that we took the decision to extend the lowest rate of VAT that we can levy on electricity. That 9% rate has been in place since 2022, but it has constantly been rolled over. We took a decision early on to provide certainty that the rate would be in place until 2030. That measure has already come at a cost of about €1 billion. We do not rule out taking further actions - no Government can - but an energy crisis in the summer months is very different from the challenges that people could face in the winter months. We have to make sure that we intervene, as we did with the largest or second largest package in the European Union, but also that we have an ability to intervene further.”
“I note it said it will soon adopt a legal proposal in relation to this, and Ireland will constructively engage on that. There is an interesting question, quite frankly, as to what more we can do around the structural cost of electricity. To give the Deputy an example, and I read the same article today as he did, we want to invest a lot more in upgrading our grid. We want to make sure more electricity is produced from renewables. The question of how much of that will come on to the household bill versus how much of it will come from the resources of the State is an important and legitimate debate. We are already planning on spending €18 billion on upgrading the grid. Is there more that can be done in that space? We will work constructively at a European level in this regard. We have already acted on the VAT rate on electricity.”
“I also note that the Commission's proposals say that measures should be targeted income measures. That is why we extended the fuel allowance. I welcome that the Commission said measures should be temporary because I think we have to stay agile and flexible during this crisis. It is hard to predict where the global economy will be in six weeks, let alone in six months. That is why our current measures run to the end of July. The Commission says that taking action on excise duty is an option, which is why we have cut the excise duty on diesel by 32 cent and on petrol by 27 cent. Between the green diesel excise duty cut and the support scheme, the cut for a litre of green diesel is 27.5 cent. The Deputy is right that the Commission said there are options that can be considered in relation to electricity.”
“They are being discussed today and tomorrow at a meeting of the European Council in Cyprus, where our Taoiseach will represent the country. I hope that meeting provides an opportunity to put a bit of meat on the bones of further areas where the European Union can bring forward opportunities to act. I welcome that the proposals yesterday referenced the ability of countries to go beyond the energy tax directive. The Deputy will remember that I brought a financial resolution into this House in which we went beyond the energy tax directive on diesel. On that occasion, we did so more to get ready to ask for forgiveness than permission. I welcome the recognition from the European Commission that it needs to give member states flexibility in relation to that.”
“I thank the Deputy. Of course, the Government did not wait. It brought forward, objectively, one of the largest packages of supports in the European Union to assist our citizens. It is either the largest or second largest package in the European Union, depending on how you look at it, and it is around two and a half times larger than the average package in the European Union. While I welcome the European Commission's high-level proposals of yesterday as an important contribution to this discussion, we in Ireland, in this Oireachtas and in the Government, did not wait for the European Commission to come up with a list of ideas. To the Deputy's question, I welcome the high-level proposals published yesterday.”
“I am happy, in the context of Galway, Galway City Council and the issues the Deputy has raised, to have further engagement or meetings with him on this matter.”
“I am very much up to the idea. Generally, people come to this House and come up with ideas on how to spend money. It is refreshing to have people come into this House and come up with ideas on how to generate money. A tourism tax or levy at the very least merits consideration. I say "tax or levy" because they are obviously very different. A levy is something that may not necessarily involve my Department or the Revenue Commissioners; a tax would. There is a whole series of issues that needs to be worked through. The next natural point should be the completion of the review on the powers of local government and local democracy. That might be a useful point at which we can have further engagement.”
“We have got to get better at delivering critical infrastructure more quickly, particularly in the regions. We now have a very ambitious capital plan but making sure we cut through bureaucracy and planning processes that take too long is going to be key to delivery. However, unlike we often hear in this House, I think regional Ireland and regional cities are going well. Cities like Galway are doing well. We have got to just make sure we support them from an infrastructural point of view and continue to keep the focus of State agencies on them too.”
“Personally, I am very positively disposed to that once it is a matter for the local authority. As the Deputy rightly said, I am a big believer in empowering local democracy. If you run in your community and get elected by your community, you should have real powers. A revenue-raising power is one. If you happen to be a member of Galway or Dublin City Councils - they are two examples - and you say, "Hang on a second, we want to bring in a small tax on a hotel room or the like", that should be considered and people should be given an opportunity to ring fence it. That is very much a matter for local government and I think national government should, if at all, be an empowerment in relation to that. Infrastructure delivery is key. I am delighted to see the Galway ring road, as I am sure the Deputy is.”
“We have expanded that to Athlone, Drogheda, Dundalk, Letterkenny and Sligo, and it is already in place in Galway, as the Deputy knows. The much talked about reduction in the VAT rate for the hospitality sector will disproportionately benefit many rural and regional communities by reducing the cost base for the hospitality sector, which is an important part of the tourism sector. From an IDA and Enterprise Ireland point of view, we continue to promote balanced regional development in every way we can.”
“Examples of incentives for SMEs include the employment incentive scheme, start-up relief for entrepreneurs and start-up capital incentives. These reliefs are key supports that help provide SMEs and start-ups with alternative funding sources by incentivising investment in SME start-ups. Another example is the revised entrepreneur relief, which provides a reduced 10% rate of capital gains tax on chargeable gains on the disposal of a qualifying business asset up to a lifetime limit of €1.5 million, a limit that was increased in the last budget. There has also been an increase in the rate of the research and development tax credit from 30% to 35%, and that is being used by many SMEs as well. As part of budget 2026, we saw the living city initiative, a tax incentive that offers tax relief to regenerate and convert homes and vacant properties.”
“As the Deputy knows, the Government is committed to balanced regional development and supporting rural communities, as outlined in the programme for Government. Regarding fiscal supports, a range of tax-based enterprise supports are available to businesses and enterprises across the country, in particular SMEs. These incentives complement more regionally specific direct expenditure measures and schemes overseen by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and its agencies. At a taxation level, the measures available are generally available nationwide but when they are coupled with the specific expenditure programmes available through the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Enterprise Ireland and others, we can see a compelling opportunity for investment in the regions.”
“Obviously, there are elections in different member states, and although I will not comment on them, they will have an effect. There has been a change of government in some member states, or there is due to be very shortly. We have outlined our own priorities. As a significant net contributor to the EU budget, as the Deputy pointed out, but which is often forgotten by others, it is right and proper that our voice is heard. We have outlined the areas that we want to see a real focus on.”
“I think it is doable but it is extremely ambitious. For the Council of the European Union to reach an agreement at a relatively early stage, in other words, by the end of this year, provides a degree of certainty in a world that is craving certainty. There is a real premium on trying to reach agreement because there is so much uncertainty in the world right now. It is not inevitable that that will happen. The Deputy is right that the process is tedious in its various parts. It ultimately becomes a matter for the President of the European Council, President Costa, to seek that consensus or agreement among European member states. The Taoiseach, who is very experienced in his area, will represent our country at that, and I know it will be a priority for him as well. Ireland certainly will not be found wanting.”
“We have all heard a whole variety of things. Ireland, as an experienced member state in its eighth Presidency, will play an important role. I assure the Deputy that protecting our own national interest has been a priority in the early part of this year.”
“We have also had a number of Commissioners here, including the budget Commissioner, the agriculture Commissioner and others, to engage with me, the Taoiseach, the Minister for foreign affairs, the Minister for agriculture, the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and others. We have used the period in early 2026 to set out our priorities to work with other member states that share a like-minded view. The challenge with the European budget, not too dissimilar from this place on occasion, but maybe on a larger scale, is that everybody has ideas on what to spend money on but people are less enthusiastic about funding it. That is also the challenge. Europe has a long list of ideas it would like to spend money on but the real substance of the debate is how we manage to prioritise those ideas.”
“It is a key question, and one the Government has been considering. We took a decision earlier this year, during my time as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, to outline Ireland's MFF budgetary priorities much earlier in the cycle for that very reason. The Deputy is right. When you take up the Presidency, there is an advantage to that, of course, and it is an influential and important position to have, but you are also expected to act as honest broker. Ireland took a decision, and the Government agreed, to formally agree our budget priorities for the MFF and communicate them to the Commission at an early stage.”
“The Economic and Financial Affairs Council, ECOFIN, which I will chair during Ireland's Presidency, focuses on the revenue side of the EU budget - own resources - and the management of the annual EU budget process. The European Council, attended by the Taoiseach, provides strategic guidance throughout the negotiations and will ultimately reach political consensus among member states on the file. Ireland, as Presidency, will ensure close and constructive co-operation with the President of the European Council. The European Parliament will also be required to give its consent to the regulation for the MFF after the European Council reaches a political consensus. Our intention, during our Presidency, is to act as an honest broker and to lead negotiations in a manner that protects the interests of the EU.”
“However, driving progress on the post-2027 multi-annual financial framework will be an important focus. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and I jointly lead the development of Ireland's positions on the MFF. This involves close co-operation with other Government colleagues. During our Presidency, Ireland will progress various elements of the wider MFF package, from overarching negotiations to sectoral files. The precise tasks for Ireland will depend on the state of play at the end of the Cyprus Presidency in June. The overarching negotiations on the MFF are advanced through the General Affairs Council, GAC, where we are generally represented by the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in consultation with all relevant Departments, is preparing for these meetings.”
“The Presidency is taking place in a few short months’ time, as the Deputy said, so I thank him for highlighting this. The Presidency of the Council of the EU is a critical focus for all of us in government, the Oireachtas and my Department this year. It represents an important opportunity for our country to shape European policy priorities, including the EU’s economic and financial agenda. I am pleased to say that our preparations are well under way across both policy and operations. Our Presidency priorities are being prepared in line with the EU strategic agenda for 2024-2029. Of course, those priorities will depend on the progress of the Cyprus Presidency, which comes before ours. We will take stock of this and stakeholders' views before we publish our final Presidency programme in June.”
“The Institute of International and European Affairs also looked at it, and suggested a much larger cost. The point is that we should not fear discussion, we should not fear facts and we should not fear preparedness. There is a responsibility on all of us to see how best to take that forward.”
“The economy in this part of the island is significantly larger, with GNI* per capita around 25% higher than GDP per capita in Northern Ireland - a gap that has remained broadly stable. Productivity levels are higher on this part of the island, although that gap narrows considerably when multinational activity is stripped out, with Northern Ireland performing broadly in line with Ireland's Border and midlands region. Sectoral structures differ greatly. Ireland has a greater concentration in this part of the island in knowledge-intensive services, while the North has higher public sector employment and greater reliance on social welfare spending. There is also other data. There was a 2025 study by DCU and Ulster University, looking at the initial net fiscal cost of reunification. There is a debate around that.”
“We clearly need to have a longer debate in this House and the Whips and others should work out a way to faciliate this discussion. We should not fear it because, as Deputy Michael Murphy said, it is about information, facts, getting as much information as possible and identifying where there are information gaps. My Department published "Shared Island, Shared Economy" in 2024, which examined the macroeconomic performance, broad sectoral structures, fiscal structures and linkages between the two economies. It found that overall economic connections between Ireland and the North have continued to deepen, supported by increasing cross-Border trade, labour mobility and joint investment initiatives.”
“Looking at this from a financial and economic point of view will ultimately be an important part of any debate whenever it arises and we have a responsibility to be prepared to engage on it. I often grapple in my own head with what the best way of creating that space is. Perhaps the Good Friday Agreement committee would be a good opportunity for us to engage on that report. I take the point that it is not all about the ESRI but there is ESRI-funded work with which all of us might want to familiarise ourselves. I am very happy to have an engagement with the appropriate committee on this matter.”
“I welcome this rare moment of unity. It is really good. We all have different political traditions that we can debate and that is fine, but Deputy Conway-Walsh would like to see a united Ireland in her lifetime and I would like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime. I agree that the shared island unit is doing good work - really good work. I notice that across the community, as I am sure Deputy Conway-Walsh does. Regarding Deputy Michael Murphy's question and the constructive contributions of Deputies Doherty, Conway-Walsh, Currie, Connolly, Shay Brennan and Cooney, the economics of this are important. I will send the remarks I made at the launch of the ESRI report to Deputy Conway-Walsh.”
“At the launch of this report, I highlighted how valuable the series is, especially its deeper data comparisons and economic indicators, which together offer important insights and food for thought and help inform us of the policy we need to develop. I will return to some of that in a moment.”
“Last April, the Government launched a new phase of a joint research programme with the ESRI, which is really the nub of the Deputy's question, focusing on strategic policy and co-operation considerations for the island. Much of what the shared island unit has been doing, which we all support, has involved investing in really meaningful projects. The ESRI strand is particularly interesting because it looks from a policy point of view at the compatability elements between how things are done in the North and here and where the differences are. Within days of coming into office, I was very pleased to launch a new annual ESRI series entitled "Assessing Economic Trends in Ireland and Northern Ireland".”
“Obviously, the principle of consent and the possibility of change in the constitutional status of Northern Ireland are fundamental elements of the Good Friday Agreement endorsed by the people North and South and accordingly the Government's approach with regard to Irish unity is guided by Article 3 of the Constitution. Thus, in the event of a future referendum within the consent provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government will make all necessary preparations in accordance with the terms of the Constitution and the principles and procedures of the agreement. To date, the Government has advanced the largest ever programme of all-island investment to build a more connected island through the shared island initiative, backed by a €2 billion shared island fund.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy for this question. As somebody who would like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime and as somebody who is proud to lead a party that has "the United Ireland party" in its full title, I very much welcome the question. I want to engage constructively with Members across the House on this. The Government of Ireland is committed to the unity of the Irish people. We are committed to that with a focus on reconciliation and developing the three sets of relationships recognised in the Good Friday Agreement to unlock the full potential of our island. Through the shared island initiative, the Government is prioritising the work of building co-operation and reconciliation with an ambitious agenda to deliver progress and to remain steadfast in fully implementing the Good Friday Agreement.”
“We have made it clear as a Government that we are committed to making progress on this, ensuring Ireland has a much more diversified savings and investment offering, ensuring that is accessible to all our citizens and not just the wealthy, and ensuring the tax system is fair and that politics is not just a reductive debate about how to hand out public money but a more sophisticated and informed one about how to ensure hard-working families are able to get ahead, and not just get by in life, by making sure the tax system works in that direction.”
“Our tax regime is in the way of people being able to invest and to access ETFs and their like. Deputies Brennan and Boland quite rightly made a point on the differential between the exit tax and CGT. In fairness to former Minister Donohoe, there was a step made in the right direction with the decrease from 41% to 38%. However, CGT is at a different level.”
“I would put it in a slightly different way, but I agree with the broader point. Given our country's huge success in financial services, the considerable revenue, jobs and prosperity this has resulted in and the fact that we have in many ways become a global hub for financial services, there is an irony in our being a major global financial services centre when, at the same time, we have locked so many of our citizens out of meaningful participation. "Ironic" is probably the diplomatic word. We have to challenge ourselves, and I have to challenge myself, to see how we can ensure the tax regime in this country is not getting in the way. It is the Government's job to help where it can, but it is also sometimes the Government's job to get out of the way.”