Taoiseach disagrees with Tánaiste’s ‘Sinn Féin’ comment about taxation report

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he disagrees with comments made by Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar that some of the proposals from the Commission on Taxation and Welfare came “straight out of the Sinn Féin manifesto”.

He said people had to look at the report’s many diverse recommendations “in the round”, and if there were recommendations they opposed, it was important that they also say which recommendations they favoured.

He said that to be fair to Mr Varadkar, the Tánaiste had complimented the report at the margins of the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Mr Varadkar had said there were some proposals in the report that he strongly favoured, Mr Martin said.

Talking to reporters in Tallaght, Mr Martin said: “I think one has to read the [taxation] report in its entirety. And the authors did not envisage that any proposal had to be implemented in this budget or the next budget.

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“What they are trying to create is a medium- to long-term framework around how does the Irish economy generate revenue over the next 10 to 15 years whilst dealing with different demographics and ageing population.

“As a philosophical level, it moves towards less taxes on labour, more on consumption, and property. There are genuine issues to be debated and argued there as well,” the Taoiseach said.

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The report was written by an independent commission, with its members drawn from all sectors of society. It looked at the potential and possibility for the State to raise revenue in the context of an ageing population, climate change and shift work patterns.

Asked was it appropriate for the Tánaiste to make such a direct remark, Mr Martin said: “We live in a democracy and people are entitled to have their perspectives.

“We should look at the entirety of the report. It’s a very serious report. It’s very comprehensive, it’s detailed. Some of the challenges for the next 30 years are going to be [in relation to broadening] the tax base.”

Mr Martin said local property tax and carbon tax had been introduced and that each had been difficult politically.

The commission, chaired by Prof Niamh Moloney, was established in April 2021 on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government.

The commission was asked to “review how best the taxation and welfare system can support economic activity and income redistribution, whilst promoting increased employment and prosperity in a resilient, inclusive and sustainable way and ensuring that there are sufficient resources available to meet the costs of public services and supports in the medium and longer term”.