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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“The group C threshold increased to €20,000 from €16,250, with this threshold applying in all other cases. Along with tax-free group thresholds, various reliefs and exemptions are available in relation to CAT, including agricultural relief, business relief, the small gift exemption, favourite niece or nephew relief and the dwelling house exemption. It is important from a tax policy perspective to maintain stability and certainty and to ensure that the CAT thresholds are appropriately set in the context of the range of reliefs available. There is a significant associated cost with further changes to the group thresholds, whether it involves increasing thresholds or reforming the inheritance tax category system, for example, bringing those who are childless within the scope of the group A threshold.”
“I thank Deputy Cahill for the question. This is an important issue on which I have had several meetings. Capital acquisitions tax, CAT, is a tax which applies to both gifts and inheritances, and is charged at a rate of 33%. For CAT purposes, the relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance and the person who receives it determines the maximum amount, known as the group threshold, below which CAT does not arise. The group thresholds were most recently increased in budget 2025. Deputy Cahill will remember the group A threshold increased to €400,000 from €335,000. This broadly applies to where the beneficiary is a child of the disponer. The group B threshold increased to €40,000 from €32,500. This threshold applies where the beneficiary is a brother, sister, niece, nephew or lineal ancestor or descendant of the disponer.”
“This is a big area we are focusing on. I am conscious insurance costs are significant for all businesses, but they can have a disproportionate significance for smaller businesses, where a hike or an extra premium cost that was not expected could be the difference between viability or not. We have all met businesses in that place. Attracting more competition into the market is very important and helpful, and we are actively seeing what can be done in that space. Obviously, those are commercial decisions but making sure we keep our environment correct so that it is good and transparent and, at the same time, competitive for people to come in is a key issue. We will continue to work very closely on the concerns of small businesses in this area. The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, will keep Deputy McCormack up to date.”
“The big priorities are seeing the motor insurance transparency code; passing the right to be forgotten Bill regarding cancer survivors; looking at the national claims information database regarding the cost of motor insurance and other trends; monitoring those trends in Ireland and internationally; making progress on the flood insurance gap; and, generally, driving delivery of our insurance reform agenda and the action plan for insurance reform out to 2029. On foot of Deputy McCormack raising this issue, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, to write to him with a comprehensive update on the delivery of that action plan. It might be of use to some of those organisations the Deputy mentioned.”
“Deputy McCormack is right. We have introduced significant reform in this sector and we now need the industry to ensure the benefit of those reforms are passed onto the customer. We have seen some progress in some areas but, frankly, we have not seen enough. We are very carefully monitoring this in the Cabinet committee. We are often asked for a long list and told if we do A, B, C and D, the premiums will fall. However, as the Deputy rightly suggested, we need to show this is actually happening. I am also conscious there needs to be greater transparency on this.”
“It sets out a reduction in the required remission period for cancer survivors from seven to five years, as well as an increase in the sum assured threshold from €500,000 to €650,000. Work is also ongoing with the office to promote competition in the insurance market to enhance competition in the insurance market. We are also doing a lot of work on flood insurance and the flood insurance protection gap. The committee will meet again in formal session in September.”
“Legislation to safeguard access to mortgage protection insurance for cancer survivors is also progressing through the Oireachtas. The Bill has passed through all Stages of Dáil Éireann and is making its way through Seanad Éireann. It is my intention, with the co-operation of everyone, that this be passed through the Oireachtas and signed into law this summer. This will be very important. As the Deputy will be aware, this legislation builds on the voluntary code of practice that is currently in place and which was issued by Insurance Ireland in December 2023. The idea is that a cancer diagnosis should be disregarded, where the person has got through their cancer journey, for the purpose of mortgage protection.”
“There is a responsibility on many Departments in this respect and the Cabinet committee provides us with an opportunity to bring people together. The most recent meeting of the subgroup took place last month. Several priority actions have been set out in the action plan, which are focused on areas where the greatest impact on transparency, affordability and availability of insurance can be achieved. As part of this, a new motor insurance transparency code was launched on 2 March 2026. I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for his work on that. The code is designed to enhance trust, clarity, transparency and understanding. The idea is that people should get, with their premium, a piece of paper explaining the breakdown, composition and rationale behind it.”
“I can indeed. I thank Deputy McCormack for his question. I see there are a lot of students in the Public Gallery. I am not sure what school they are from, but they are very welcome. They picked a lovely sunny day to come into the Dáil. I thank them for being here and hope they enjoy their summer holidays, which are coming shortly. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government commits to maintaining the Cabinet committee subgroup on insurance reform to ensure insurance issues continue to receive strong attention, but also effective cross-government co-ordination. I chair that Cabinet subgroup, which meets on a regular basis to advance the action plan for insurance reform, but also to review progress made by each Minister in delivering his or her assigned actions.”
“There is much talk about the hospitality sector. Hairdressing probably does not get mentioned as much, but it is also an important cost base. There are lots of people working in these sectors, including part time, and there will be lots of young people getting summer jobs working in them as well. The hospitality sector, by which I do not mean hairdressers, is disproportionately represented in rural communities and the CSO data shows that those are overwhelmingly SMEs. The Deputy and I have a difference of view, although there may not be any differences between us about where we want to get to. That is my position.”
“The Deputy would not be doing his job if he was not scrutinising the decisions we make; that is his job. I believe it is a good use of taxpayers' money because the cost of this needs to be seen alongside the amount of income tax and other taxes these businesses and their employees are going to create. When I go back to my community and constituency and go into the local café, I know they will feel some sense of relief that some Bill is coming down the line. What annoyed me a lot about the 9% VAT rate in the recent period, though not nearly as much as it annoyed people in the hospitality sector, was this constant annual anxiety of whether the Government would roll it over for another year. At least, we are providing certainty now for a landscape. I believe this is the appropriate rate at which VAT should be levied in these sectors.”
“There is a democratic link, I suppose, to the programme that we offered people in the general election and the composition of this Government as well. There is a cost. There is a cost to everything the Government does. There is a cost to not doing things too. I cannot misrepresent the previous budget. In fairness, we did not know about the war in Iran at the time of the previous budget but the pressure on these businesses has got even higher since then. The certainty we can provide the café owner, the restaurant owner and the hairdresser in our constituencies and communities that their VAT bill will, effectively, be permanently reduced from next week will, I genuinely believe, be a welcome relief to many of them.”
“While I vehemently disagree with the Deputy on this, and he vehemently disagrees with me on my position on it, I do not doubt his bona fides on it. Nobody, neither nor the Deputy, is suggesting that we have a monopoly on trying to support jobs. The Deputy wants to do it as do I. We all want to sustain employment. I accept that point but we have a difference of view on how to go about it. I am very blunt and honest about this. I campaigned in an election and I stood in cafés, restaurants and hairdressers and I told people that if they voted for me and put my party back in government, we would pursue this measure, as did my coalition colleagues. We are now pursuing the measure. That is important.”
“The total full-year cost, to answer Deputy Nash's question, is estimated to be €681 million. In making any decision in relation to VAT rates or other taxation measures, the Government must balance the costs of the measures against their impact. As outlined in last year's budget, the objective of the measure is to try to support businesses in services sectors, such as hospitality, who are facing increased cost pressures - they are even more increased now than at the time of the last budget. This measure is expected to support them and over 150,000 jobs they support and sustain across the country.”
“The vast majority of businesses within this sector are small businesses. They are spread across the whole State. All of these businesses employ people whose jobs I and the Government are trying to protect and sustain in the time ahead and the most important thing at the moment in the global environment we live in is to protect and retain those jobs. The available Central Statistics Office, CSO, data for the food and catering and accommodation sectors indicate that over 99% are SMEs with over half of those businesses being microenterprises with less than ten employees. The estimated full year cost for 2027 of the 9% VAT rate being applied to food and catering services is €633 million. The estimated cost of the hairdressing element is a further €48 million.”
“As the Deputy will be aware, the 9% VAT rate will be reintroduced for hairdressing services and for restaurant and catering services in the food-related hospitality sector from 1 July 2026. We have different views on this. I am very pleased that this is happening. The decision reflects the Government's commitment to supporting employment in sectors that are highly labour-intensive and form a key part of the domestic economy. I am aware the Deputy and I have different views on it. In my view, it reflects a need that has been recognised in the programme for Government to support SMEs, especially those in the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors. The programme for Government notes the increased cost pressures on these sectors and states that the Government will bring forward measures that will entail changes to VAT.”
“That is made up of €150 million for the original excise duties to the end of May; the €139 million when we decided to extend them to the end of July; €121 million from the further excise reductions we put on top of that; €22 million from the carbon tax deferral; €10 million for the diesel rebate; €40 million for the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy change; €70 million for the fuel allowance expansion; €120 million for the transport scheme; and €100 million for the agriculture scheme. That gets you to €772 million. What we need to decide to do next needs careful consideration and a balanced approach to try to avoid that sudden cliff edge for people but also to try to be nimble and agile in our response. We will work through it all in the next few days.”
“It is a fair question. Thankfully, as a country, we have had an ability to bring in a very significant package, one of the largest packages in the European Union, without having to borrow for it. Our nearest neighbour, the UK, brought in a much smaller package per head of population and had to go to the markets and borrow for it. I think it got charged approximately 5% for the luxury of that. The fiscal reserves we built up as a country - the surplus we are running in a growing economy - have enabled us to act but there is no consequence-free decision on expenditure either, as the Deputy and I both appreciate. The current package has cost approximately €772 million.”
“It can decide to amend, at the appropriate point, the legislation going through the Dáil. That might be the most efficient way should the Government decide it wishes to take action. The Government can decide to bring forward further financial resolutions and the likes, too. The cleanest way might be that before the legislation passes through both Houses of the Oireachtas, the Government makes a determination but that involves a whole-of-government conversation which I am currently engaged in with colleagues.”
“It is a fair question. What I am saying is that it is not possible for somebody to absorb the full 32 cent. I get that point but I also have to balance that with the fact the Deputy, on behalf of his constituents, Deputy McCormack, on behalf of his, and all of us on behalf of ours, will be looking for things to be done in the budget too. I cannot ignore the fact that the price of oil is now falling and the fact the Strait of Hormuz is currently open. I cannot ignore the cost, in that on the way in today, I saw the cost of diesel is now below the cost of petrol. The situation is different factually to when we brought in the original package and we need to work our way through that in the coming days. There is a number of different ways the Government can do that.”
“All the current legislation going through the Dáil is simply giving legislative underpinning to decisions we took many weeks ago. We will then update that decision in terms of what excise looks like post-31 July. We will do that in the coming days. We will do it in plenty of time, before this House goes into recess. We will seek to avoid any sudden cliff edge for families and businesses.”
“I often get asked, and I can understand why, whether I will agree to this or that for a period of time and what I have always tried to say is that sometimes we have stop, take stock and decide what the appropriate action to take is. In the next couple of days the Government will decide what is now the appropriate thing to do. We put a very large package of support in place. It is in place until 31 July. It is true that petrol and diesel prices are now lower than when we brought that in. As for whether they are lower by the 32 cent, they are not. As for whether we need to try to avoid a cliff edge, we do. As for whether we also need to be responsible for public money, the taxpayers' money, to give ourselves options for the budget, etc., we do too. This is a balance that we have to get right.”
“I thank Deputy Connolly for his question and his comments, and that is the approach the Government is trying to take. None of this is easy for households or for businesses. War has caused havoc in the world and it has caused a shock to the global economy. Ireland, as a small open economy, is not immune from that. There is no government in the wide earthly world that can insulate its people, even if it wishes to, from the impact of that but what we have said from day one consistently across Government is that we will be nimble and agile in trying to respond to the issue and that we will always keep things under review.”
“I truthfully do not know the answer as to whether officials in the Department of Finance were on that call or reviewed that transcript. I am happy to find that out for the Deputy. I truthfully do not know that. I also cannot account for why the CEO of the bank said that on an investor call. I genuinely believe that it made no material difference to the formal sale process and recovering taxpayers’ money that was invested in PTSB. A full, transparent and open process was undertaken, which ultimately led to a board recommendation from PTSB. However, in the interest of transparency, if there is information that my Department can make available to the Deputy on the questions he asked, I am happy to do that and correspond with him in that regard.”
“Indeed, I have read them. I respectfully say that these are questions for the CEO of PTSB. I have found him to be an excellent CEO who has done an excellent job. From my Department’s point of view, I am happy to account to the Dáil in terms of the factual situation of that offer received on 5 September 2025.”
“I am informed by my Department that there was one non-binding, indicative proposal received on 5 September 2025 from Centerbridge Partners to acquire the stake in PTSB. When the indicative proposal was received by the Department, it was assessed. The view was rightly taken that it did not adequately reflect the value of the State’s shareholding in PTSB. The proposal was not pursued and, instead, the formal sale process was subsequently undertaken by PTSB in an open, competitive and transparent manner, which allowed a range of potential investors to participate, including Centerbridge Partners. That was the correct approach. It resulted in a recommendation from the board of PTSB in relation to the offer from BAWAG. That has satisfied the Government’s ultimate objectives in this regard. I am, of course, aware of media reports.”
“Since then, PTSB has returned to profitability, increased its balance sheet scale and strengthened its capital ratios. A sale of the State’s investment is consistent with the objectives of recovering taxpayer funds that were used to rescue the banks. Through a combination of fees, dividend income, the bank levy and disposal proceeds, the State has recovered around €4 billion from its investment in PTSB. On an overall basis, this means the State is around €1.3 billion above breakeven on its €29.4 billion investment in AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB from direct shareholding linked income and has recovered a further €1.8 billion from the banking sector since the introduction of the bank levy.”
“BAWAG has set out a long-term ownership approach, including maintaining a strong and resilient Irish banking franchise, investing in the business, retaining the headquarters in Dublin, a branch footprint and safeguarding existing employment rights and pension arrangements in line with applicable law. BAWAG has also indicated its intention to leverage its broader European expertise to strengthen the bank’s competitiveness, including in areas such as SME banking, energy efficiency financing and operational integration. These stated intentions formed part of the overall assessment of the bid. The State's investment in PTSB was made during the financial crisis to safeguard the stability of the banking system and protect depositors.”
“Subsequently, the board of PTSB launched a formal sale process on 30 October 2025 which was, of course, public and open to all bona fide strategic and financial investors. It was conducted by PTSB in accordance with the Irish takeover rules. Centerbridge Partners was one of the parties in that formal sale process. The Department believes that the process was fair, transparent and offered the greatest opportunity to canvas broad interest from potential bidders. The formal sale process resulted in the board of PTSB recommending a cash offer from BAWAG to shareholders.”
“I thank Deputy Doherty for the question. The Department received a wide range of proposals in relation to the State’s banking investments over the years, as the Deputy will be aware. As part of their normal functions, officials explore and assess such proposals. On 5 September 2025, the Department received a non-binding and indicative proposal in writing from Centerbridge Partners to acquire the Minister's stake in PTSB. The Department was of the view that the indicative proposal undervalued the Minister’s stake in PTSB and informed PTSB of its decision to reject the proposal. Following internal governance, the Department advised Centerbridge Partners that the proposal did not provide a basis for engagement. That was the offer. Indeed, it is the only one that I am aware of that took place in advance of the formal sale process.”
“There is no current evidence that any of this reported activity arose in this jurisdiction but the level of focus, with the greatest respect to the Dublin Central by-election, from forces outside our jurisdiction is a significant cause for concern. This is a fast-evolving area in general. Our action plan is an honest effort to try to co-ordinate on it, but we also need to be humble in terms of any good or positive feedback that comes forward regarding areas we can look at further. I will engage with the Deputy in writing on crypto.”
“It is a fair point to which I will seek a decent answer for the Deputy. I will come back to him in writing on it. I am concerned about the issues relating to crypto and some of the issues the Deputy has highlighted. I will get specialist advice as to our level of satisfaction that the actions are robustly dealing with them, or not. I am also concerned about other recent developments we have seen in this country, including the recent examination of developments that we saw around a recent by-election. I asked my officials to complete an analysis of the situation. There are discussions ongoing at an EU level to determine whether financial market regulation should apply to certain transactions. This is an area that we need to look at.”
“We have literally just published the plan. There is a commitment to work across Government on it. Any additional resourcing can and will be considered in the context of the budget.”
“It is a fair point. We have published an action plan with the 30 actions and the reporting structure every six months as well. We have to ensure that is adequately resourced. There are associated resource implications that arise from changes to Ireland's anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, AML-CFT, regime due to the sixth anti–money laundering directive and also increased requirements from the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, AMLA. In recent Government discussions we highlighted some of these issues as well. Of course, these will have to form part of the annual Estimates process through engagement with the Department of public expenditure. In this context, law enforcement agencies, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland and the Companies Registration Office may also be in scope.”
“These actions include progressing key measures such as strengthening frameworks on terrorism, enhancing sanctions, improving beneficial ownership transparency, etc. We have committed to reporting progress on these actions every six months to Cabinet and publicly.”
“In other words, we will be externally viewed starting next year to assess how we are getting on with this area. Over the last two years, my Department has managed the preparation of Ireland’s latest national risk assessment, which the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and I jointly launched last week. The assessment is detailed. It includes 20 sectoral risk assessments, 12 of which are in the financial services sector, and in turn provides a basis to help inform our policy, regulatory and operational priorities. This is accompanied by a detailed action plan comprising 30 measures, which are being progressed across Government and other relevant stakeholders. Officials in my Department will lead delivery of 11 of these.”
“It also has responsibility for aspects of the relevant legislation, in particular the transposition of the sixth anti–money laundering directive, in partnership with the Department of justice. My Department also co-ordinates Ireland’s participation in the Financial Action Task Force which develops global standards for combating money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the financing of weapons of mass destruction. The Financial Action Task Force conducts periodic independent peer-based evaluations of countries to assess both their compliance with the task force’s standards and the effectiveness of the measures a country has taken to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. Ireland’s next mutual evaluation will be in 2027 and 2028.”
“I genuinely look forward to any discussion of how we do better and do more on this area, which is really important and of growing concern. It is important to note responsibility for various aspects of legislation and policy on combating money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and the financing of weapons of mass destruction falls across a number of Departments, including mine as well the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, among others. Notwithstanding this whole-of-government approach, my Department has a number of distinct but intersecting roles. It has a central co-ordination function through the national anti–money laundering steering committee, which brings together relevant Departments, State agencies and the private sector self-regulatory bodies in the legal and accountancy professions.”
“As the Deputy says, they get called different things by different parties in different electoral cycles. Whether it is the squeezed middle or the people who get up early in the morning we are all know who we are trying to help; hard-working people who are doing their best and want to get ahead, not just get by. They need us to use all the levers on the spending side and the tax side to try to make those structural changes to the cost base they face.”
“I agree with Deputy Neville. Sometimes, we have debates in this House on taxation measures versus spending measures but it is not an either-or situation. We can help people through the income tax system and we should, for all the reasons the Deputy outlined, and will do that. There are also other issues the public want to see us make progress on with respect to the structural costs they face in their lives, whether it is the cost of the energy bill, childcare, access to disability services or the cost of education. This budget will need to be viewed in the round and the people and the Opposition will view it that way. We should be trying to look at both the tax side and the spending side and seeing together how we can put in place real measures that help.”
“That, the tax strategy group papers and the summer economic statement will provide us all with an understanding of the space available for a tax package. We will then decide as a Government what the appropriate composition of that personal income tax package is and unveil it on 6 October.”
“I thank Deputy Neville very much. To be helpful, we will see the tax strategy group papers published in the coming weeks and there will be the annual income tax paper from that group, which will set out information on the adjustment of income tax standard bands, including the estimated cost to the Exchequer. These publications are all based on the Revenue ready reckoner and are useful for all of us in this House to determine the different costs of different things. Based on Revenue's post-budget 2026 ready reckoner it was estimated that a €1,000 increase in the standard rate income tax band would cost about €230 million in the first year, so that gives an indication. Revenue will shortly publish its pre-budget 2027 ready reckoner.”
“The argument about entry points and thresholds is compelling. I am not saying it is the only thing to look at doing but it is compelling. There are a lot of people who feel if they get a promotion, work a few extra hours or get a pay rise - there is wage growth in the economy - the taxman is taking too much of that money back off them, which is not fair.”
“We have made significant progress on income tax bands over the years. I think it was in 2015 that people paid the higher rate of tax at around €33,000. In most budgets over the course of the last Government, the threshold was increased and it is now €44,000. It is still below the OECD average. That is a slightly crude figure because when you take into account our PRSI system it changes it a bit, but our entry point to the higher rate of tax is still too low. We will decide as a Government the tax package in the round. The next step will be the publication of the summer economic statement next month. That will outline roughly how much we intend to spend on public services and public expenditure and how much of a tax package we intend to do. There will be a real focus on a personal income tax package.”
“I thank Deputy Neville for the question. The programme for Government contains commitments on personal income tax. We have been clear that if we saw a significant economic deterioration, we would not be able to proceed with personal income tax measures, but I am pleased to inform the House and the Deputy that we will be in a position this year to deliver a personal income tax package. It is more important, quite frankly, than it has been in a long time. The cost-of-living challenge cannot be dealt with solely through the social welfare system, though it is important. We have had good engagement with the people who we used to call the social partners and the people we meet through the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF. There is widespread recognition that tax can play a helpful role in trying to assist people.”
“I just do not accept the idea that the threshold idea is a bad one and I think the Deputy is open to considering that too.”
“The Deputy's angry man routine and dismissiveness of the bona fides of everyone else in this place is getting a bit tiresome at this stage. We are all doing our best. We will deliver a budget this year that will have a personal income tax package. We took a series of other decisions last year. People will debate the merits and demerits of them. I am happy to debate them too. This year, there will be a personal income tax package. There will also be other ways of assisting people, through the social welfare system, the child poverty work around the working family payment and things like childcare. There are lots of steps we can take together. We have not made any decisions and I do not dismiss the idea of tax credits or USC or thresholds.”
“The good thing about this country is that we have elections. We had two recently and the Deputy went to Galway extensively - he was there a lot - and told people to send Fine Gael a message, back the Sinn Féin emergency budget and vote for the Sinn Féin candidate and Sinn Féin lost the election, badly. In Dublin Central, the Sinn Féin leader's constituency, it lost the election badly, because people do not believe in this sort of divisive politics, where only Sinn Féin represents hard-working people. Who the hell does Deputy Doherty think the rest of us represent? Who does he think Deputies Nash, Cian O'Callaghan, Ardagh, Neville and I represent? We were all elected to this place and we all represent people to the best of our abilities.”
“There are people today, who are not wealthy people, who got up at a ridiculous hour in the morning, sat in horrific commuter traffic and are looking for a bit of a break too. They are annoyed, as are their trade union representatives and employers, at the entry point to the higher rate of tax being too low. We have not made any decisions in the round on this, but we should not be getting into divide and conquer. There is a legitimate policy debate about the threshold at which the higher rate of tax is paid.”
“The Deputy is doing it again. The budget will be in around 100 days' time. We need to get into an annual budget cycle. We should have a good, decent, robust debate about what the best composition of that is. I look forward to that very much, but we have to stop with this idea of an emergency budget. We have to run the country in a sustainable way. We should not look at how we assist people purely through the tax system. When the Deputy talks about lower income people, he leaves out of the analysis the social welfare system we have in place, the significant safety net it provides and the many supports some lower income families receive, including the working family payment and the largest increase received.”