Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 16 Feb 1993

Vol. 426 No. 1

Written Answers. - PRSI Contributions.

Liz O'Donnell

Ceist:

75 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Social Welfare the gain or cost to the Exchequer of making all income at present eligible for income tax also eligible for PRSI at the full rate with an annual personal allowance of £2,100 for a single person and £4,200 for a couple while abolishing the present PRSI tax allowance of £286; and the amount of the gain or cost outlined which is attributable to the abolition of the PRSI tax allowance of £286, the introduction of a personal allowance against PRSI, applying PRSI at the full rate to the public sector, removing the ceiling on PRSI, applying PRSI to interest income, applying PRSI to dividend income, applying PRSI to income in kind, and to any other factor.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

The information requested by the Deputy is not available in full. The information, in so far as it is available, is given below.

The figures presented are full year costs expressed in 1993-94 terms and are estimates based on information currently available. Abolition of the PRSI tax allowance of £286 would raise an additional £57 million in tax revenue. Applying full rate PRSI to public servants would raise an additional £137 million from employees and £305 million from employers in PRSI contributions. This takes no account of the additional cost of providing social insurance benefits to those concerned. Abolition of the PRSI ceiling, at current contribution rates, would increase PRSI contribution income by £49 million in respect of employees and £96 million for employers. Applying employee PRSI to interest income, dividend income and income in kind would yield £70 million approximately in social insurance contribution income.