Richard Boyd Barrett Condemns Tax Breaks for High Earners
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised a tax incentive that benefits workers earning over 75,000 euro, arguing it is inequitable and fails to help lower-paid workers. He said high pay plus additional bonuses and commissions make the relief unjustified and that the measure offers no incentive to those earning under 75,000 euro.
Main critique
He argued the incentive targets people who must earn more than 75,000 euro a year, excluding bonuses and commissions, and that many of those beneficiaries are "massively well paid" while ordinary workers receive no comparable relief.
Impact on labour shortages
He said the country needs those people in the construction sector, in public services and in a whole number of areas where there are serious labour shortages, and questioned why the scheme would attract workers on less than 75,000 euro when it clearly favours high earners.
Cost and accommodation
He pointed to high accommodation costs and insufficient wages as reasons many talented people have left and do not return, suggesting the incentive does not tackle the practical barriers that deter lower-paid workers.
Equity concerns
He insisted the inequity of granting tax relief to very high earners cannot be justified by claims about the benefits companies bring, because the same contribution arguments apply equally to people earning under 75,000 euro who also sustain the economy.
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Do you want to know? I mean the point is made and I think the Minister knows that we disagree. I mean just one additional point though I would make is that you know there's an awful lot of talented people who've left and are leaving this country but and we need well sorry we need those people in our construction sector in our public services and in a whole number of areas where we are seeing quite serious labour shortages at the moment and the reason a lot of those people don't come back here is because of the cost accommodation because wages just aren't high enough and so on and so I think where's the incentive for them you know we're giving this suspense this incentive to people who must earn more than 75,000 euro a year excluding by the way bonuses and commissions and all sorts of other things which they also get so you can only get this if you're massively well paid and some of these people are so massively well paid your mind will boggle at it you think really does anybody deserve to be paid that much but not only are they paid that much but we're giving them a tax relief that no ordinary worker would ever even hope or expect to get so where's the incentive for the for the people under 75,000 when we need we need them we desperately need them so you say we need these people and this is justified in order to get them well what are you going to do to get all the people under 75,000 what incentive are you giving them and it's that inequity in it that I just think makes it totally unacceptable and I don't think any amount of argument about saying the benefit that this company does or that company brings to the country can justify that inequity because any point you can make about the contribution those companies make to this country can equally be made about all the people who are under 75,000 that's the inequity of it because do all those people who learn less than 75,000 make an equally important contribution to this country and its economy
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