I move: "That this Bill do now pass."
FINANCE BILL, 1928.—FIFTH STAGE.
Before the House takes a division on this Bill, I should like to make some general observations with regard to the new taxation that it is proposed to impose. The Minister, in the Bill of which he now seeks to have a final reading, imposes a burden of nearly £1,000,000 in fresh taxation, although for the past few years, not alone the Minister himself, but all the members of his Party, have made great capital in the country out of the extraordinary reduction that has been made in taxation under their administration. At the present time, while they institute comparisons between the rate of taxation in the Free State and in Great Britain, they are very careful to keep secret an important part of the comparison which would make the country hesitate as to the reality of such a comparison. In the first place, in Great Britain, where the sum of eight hundred million pounds is raised from the people annually, there is approximately three hundred and fifty millions of that money going into the service of the public debt. That is about 44 per cent. of the total expenditure, whereas in the Free State only a comparatively small amount is going towards the service of the public debt —I think about one million six hundred thousand pounds, which would not be quite 7 per cent. of the total expenditure. So that really, as far as the Free State and Great Britain are concerned, we have first, before we can institute a comparison in regard to the amount of the taxation per head of the population, to make allowance for the fact that in Great Britain nearly half of the total amount of the expenditure goes towards debt services.
There is also the important fact that in Great Britain there are numerous social services in regard to unemployment benefit, national health insurance benefit, medical services, education and other matters which we have not in this country. In England it is estimated that nearly 20 per cent. of the national income goes in taxation, and that is considered to be an abnormally high percentage of the income of the people. But, at any rate, it is a percentage which responsible thinkers in England consider has a good foundation behind it. In this country we are entirely in the dark as far as Government statistics can give us any knowledge as to the amount of the revenue of the State which is being absorbed annually for the maintenance of the Central administration. Taking as a basis for calculation subsistence allowance of £32 per head of the population in the Free State, we get a total subsistence allowance of £101,000,000 for the entire population of 3,000,000. In order to get the national income from which to substract that subsistence allowance, and therefore see what available margin is left for taxation, we would, on the basis which was suggested to the Financial Relations Commission of 1897 by Sir Robert Giffen, have——
A Chinn Comhairle, Private Deputies' business.
I propose to allow Deputy Derrig to finish the sentence.
——to take as the income of the State twice the gross income of assessment for the year, and the last year for which we have figures, that is the year 1924-5, the estimated gross assessment during that year was £64,430,000. Therefore the total income of the inhabitants of the Free State in the year 1924-25 would be roughly £129,000,000.
I move the adjournment of the debate.
The debate adjourned.