I move amendment No. 3:
In page 10, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following section:
"Section 138 of the Income Tax Act, 1967, is hereby amended by the deletion in subsection (3) of `£45' and the substitution therefor of `£100'."
This amendment is intended to deal with what I regard as an injustice and anomaly in the income tax code. I have not the Income Tax Act before me now but section 138 of that Act re-enacts a section of the 1920 Finance Act which provided then that the earned income allowance in respect of a wife's earnings would be £45. That figure was fixed 48 years ago and it does not need any words of mine to emphasise that if at that stage in 1920 £45 was regarded as a reasonable allowance, it is very hard to justify the continuance 48 years later of precisely the same figure. I suggest in the amendment that the £45 be increased to £100.
This is not the first time this matter was raised. It has been raised in one way or another in recent years and I think an amendment seeking a greater allowance was tabled last year by Deputy Noel Lemass. I ask the Minister to consider the matter sympathetically.