People earning less than £100 a week should not be subjected to PAYE deductions, but companies enjoying windfall profits from drastic cuts in corporation tax should face "clawback" levies. These are two of the main recommendations in the pre-Budget submission of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, entitled "Budget 99: Fair for All".
At the launch of the document yesterday the ICTU general secretary, Mr Peter Cassells, said the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, needed to reward workers on low to middle incomes for their contribution to the economic boom. He also had to curb inflationary pressures by telling higher-income groups they should not expect more in tax cuts, as they were already doing well from last year's Budget.
Mr McCreevy had to claw back profits from businesses which were "creaming it" in recent years and invest in key growth areas, such as education and skills training, information and communications technologies, and public transport.
The deputy general secretary of congress, Ms Patricia O'Donovan, said PAYE allowances should be doubled from £800 to £1,600. Nobody earning less than £100 a week should pay tax, she said, adding that the present threshold was £79.
Ms O'Donovan said no married worker on the average industrial wage whose spouse is unemployed should pay tax at the higher rate. At present the average industrial wage was £15,000, but married people went on the higher tax rate at £13,950.
Mr Cassells said companies should be required to implement the national minimum wage of £4.40 an hour on a phased basis to qualify for the reduced level of corporation tax.
Old-age pensions should be increased to £100 a week and other welfare rates increased ahead of inflation, in line with the minimum rates recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare.