There has been a mixed response by trade union leaders this weekend to news that the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, has come down in favour of tax reforms for the lower paid in the next Budget.
While the president of SIPTU, Mr Jimmy Somers, has given a guarded welcome to Ms Harney's statement in Cork on Friday that she wanted to take "as many people as possible out of the tax net", the Irish regional secretary of the ATGWU, Mr Mick O'Reilly, described the Government's tax plans as "a fraud" that "will create more inequality in society".
Mr Somers said on RTE's This Week that he welcomed the thrust of her remarks, but wanted tax cuts of at least £700 million in the next Budget targeted at the low paid. Ms Harney suggested £500 million might be available.
Mr O'Reilly said, "Ms Harney's U-turn on income tax is a fraud. Increasing personal allowances and extending the standard rate tax band is just another way of providing tax subsidies to upper income groups. It will benefit the wealthy by up to three times as much as those on low pay.
"This is because those on the higher tax rate benefit twice as much from increased allowances as those on the standard rate, while extending the standard rate band creates no benefit for the vast majority on low and middle incomes."