Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012
197. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance the analyses being done on Budget 2013 / Finance Bill proposals under his remit, for example poverty impact assessment and gender impact assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52181/12]
View answer234. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if Budget 2013 will be subject to a process of Equality Budgeting outlining all impacts on citizens with lower incomes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52705/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 197 and 234 together.
With regard to budgetary matters, when focusing on the primary objectives of reducing the deficit and returning sustainability to the public finances, it has been of vital importance to the Government to spread the burden of the adjustments made in as fair and equitable a manner as possible, while also seeking to minimise their negative impact on economic growth.
The Deputy might be aware that the Programme for Government does contain a clear commitment requiring all public bodies to take due note of equality and human rights in carrying out their functions. I would also remind the Deputy that the State and its bodies must, of course, comply with all provisions of equality legislation in the development and delivery of policies and services.
Furthermore, Cabinet procedures require that proposals put to Government indicate clearly whether there is any impact of the proposal on, amongst other things, gender equality, persons experiencing or at risk of poverty or social exclusion and people with disabilities.
The Deputy might also be aware that a distributional analysis of proposed budget measures is performed each year based on various income levels for the different categories of income earners, for example single individuals, married one-earner couples with no children and married one-earner couples with children. A distributional analysis which models the impacts on disposable income by income decile using SWITCH, the ESRI Tax-Benefit model, is also undertaken in evaluating various budgetary options. Illustrative examples are contained in the Budget 2012 document.
It is also worth acknowledging that Ireland has been consistently assessed highly by the OECD for the progressivity of our taxation system. In the OECD rating system on the progressivity of taxation, where less than 100 is regressive and above 100 is progressive, most EU countries had a progressivity rate of between 120 and 140. Ireland, in comparison, had a progressivity rate of 182 (OECD Taxes and Wages 2010-2011) which was the most progressive tax system of the EU members of the OECD.
