Richard Boyd Barrett criticises Special Assignee Relief Programme
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised the Special Assignee Relief Programme, arguing it is an unfair tax relief that disproportionately benefits high earners. He challenged the minister to justify the scheme and said, as an opposition TD, he could not directly repeal it.
Tax relief under criticism
The deputy highlighted the Special Assignee Relief Programme and said the relief is available only to people earning more than €75,000. He said the numbers who benefit shocked him, citing "dozens and dozens" of people earning €250,000-€300,000, €350,000-€450,000 and higher who receive the relief.
Comparison with other tax loopholes
He said he is a critic of tax loopholes that reduce effective tax rates for big corporations or well paid individuals, but that this particular relief uniquely horrifies people because ordinary workers do not get it.
Limits of opposition
He noted that opposition TDs cannot remove the relief because any attempt to abolish it would be ruled out of order as it concerns public money. He recorded his opposition on the record while acknowledging those procedural limits.
Committee scrutiny and data
He told members that the figures were discussed at the Finance Committee or the Budget Scrutiny Committee and that the table of beneficiaries was staggering to him and others who examined it.
Challenge to the minister
He said he did not accept that removing the relief would cause the beneficiaries to leave the country and asked the minister to explain how the scheme can be justified in light of the earnings of those who benefit.
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And do you want to address it? Yeah, thanks. Minister, you know I'm a big critic of what I would describe as tax loopholes which reduce the effective tax rate that either big corporations pay on often very significant profits or the incomes of some of the best paid people working in this country. And I have to say that I think this particular tax rate, the Special Assignee Relief Programme, while in terms of the sort of total amount of money that is involved is not astronomical in the way I would say that many of the big loopholes for the corporate sector are, I think when I talk to people about these tax loopholes and tax reliefs that they don't get but which a small privileged group get, this is the one that really gets people. It horrifies them to think that there is a tax break which is available only to people who earn more than €75,000. And I have to say even I was shocked and I don't shock easily in terms of inequalities that exist in our society because I've sort of become so used to them but the numbers of people that benefit from this relief and the earnings that those people have is really quite shocking and I think we might have discussed this certainly at the Finance Committee we discussed it or the Budget Scrutiny Committee I think we discussed it when we got a table showing the figures and they really were just, I mean I was just staggered that there was this group of people you know, dozens and dozens of people earning €250,000 to €300,000 a year and then another group earning from €350,000 to €450,000 and another group earning even more than that. I haven't got all the figures unfortunately in front of me and all getting this tax relief which is not available to ordinary workers and I just don't know how you can really justify it. I don't really believe when you're talking about people who are earning those sorts of salaries that frankly are kind of unimaginable for ordinary people that if we took this tax relief away from them they'd all go flooding out of the country I just don't really buy that I just think it's an incredible yeah I mean I don't know quite what the word for it is it's just a giveaway to already stunningly well paid people to let them off on paying their fair share of tax and so I think we should get rid of it obviously the only way we can we're not allowed to do that as opposition TDs it'll be ruled out of order if we seek to get rid of it because it's money but I just think it's important for the record to state opposition to it and I would be curious to see how you minister would would justify it so I suppose that's all I need to say really here's starting you
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