Emer Currie: Widen the Standard Rate to Make Work Pay
Emer Currie asks the Tánaiste whether the next four budgets will widen the standard rate of income tax to ensure work pays. She argues current thresholds push many workers into the 40% band at incomes that are no longer high and calls for a personal income tax package.
Emer Currie tells the Dáil that Fine Gael believes in rewarding hard work and that Ireland's tax system is increasingly sending the opposite message. She highlights that workers are being pushed into the 40% tax band at income levels that are not high by reasonable standards and says this penalises extra hours, promotions and career progression.
Currie points out that Ireland now has one of the lowest entry points to the top rate of income tax anywhere in Europe. She uses this comparison to underline why widening the standard rate should be a priority in future budgets to restore fairness and incentive.
The Tánaiste responded that he fully agrees and recalled past progress on the higher rate threshold. Both the question and the reply frame the next four budgets as an opportunity for a personal income tax package aimed at making work pay and rewarding ambition rather than penalising it.
Main point
Emer Currie tells the Dáil that Fine Gael believes in rewarding hard work and that Ireland's tax system is increasingly sending the opposite message. She highlights that workers are being pushed into the 40% tax band at income levels that are not high by reasonable standards and says this penalises extra hours, promotions and career progression.
European comparison
Currie points out that Ireland now has one of the lowest entry points to the top rate of income tax anywhere in Europe. She uses this comparison to underline why widening the standard rate should be a priority in future budgets to restore fairness and incentive.
Government response and next steps
The Tánaiste responded that he fully agrees and recalled past progress on the higher rate threshold. Both the question and the reply frame the next four budgets as an opportunity for a personal income tax package aimed at making work pay and rewarding ambition rather than penalising it.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Joe O'Reilly
Joe O'Reilly urges full sick pay for long COVID health staff
Alan Dillon
Alan Dillon: Ireland urges EU action over Israel's breaches
John Brady
John Brady probes €5m fraud, ISAF trip and Baldonnell
Sharon Keogan
Sharon Keogan: Questions Government Secrecy Over House Purchases
Albert Dolan
Albert Dolan Confronts NTMA Over €5M Scam and Debt Risk
Richard Boyd Barrett
Richard Boyd Barrett: Moves Sanctions Against the State of Israel Bill 2025
Transcript
Tánaiste, Fine Gael has always believed in rewarding hard work, encouraging initiative and aspiration, supporting people who try to build a better life for themselves and their families. But increasingly our tax system is sending the opposite message. Workers today are pushed into the 40% tax band at income levels that are no longer considered high by any reasonable rate, by any reasonable standard. We now have one of the lowest entry points to the top rate of income tax anywhere in Europe and that means that people who take on extra hours, who go for promotion, who build a career or try to earn a little more are seeing more and more of that effort taxed away. A tax system should reward ambition, not penalise it, making work pay, not making people question whether it's worth it. So Tánaiste, do you agree the next four budgets are an opportunity to take a more ambitious approach to widening the standard rate and strengthening the principle that work should pay? I fully do Deputy Currie and thank you for raising this issue. I mean people who work hard should be able to get ahead and not just get by and work always must pay and there's far too many people in this country who feel they play by the rules, they do everything possible they possibly can, they spend long times commuting, they've child care costs and the likes and they just at the end of the month go is that it when they look at the pay slip and we need to do better on that. Now we have a proud record on this, in 2015 I think you paid the higher rate of tax at around just over £33,000, it's now over £44,000 and I do want to see a personal income tax package in the next budget and I want to see a personal income tax package in the next four budgets.