The Government policy programme, An Action Programme for the Millennium, states that the Government parties "recognise the need to reduce the burden of personal taxation in order to reward effort and give people an incentive to take up work".
My last two budgets have been characterised by major changes in the income tax system which I believe has encouraged, and will continue to encourage, unemployed people to return to the workforce. These changes have included exempting the first £100 of a single person's earnings from tax and PRSI; reducing the entry rate of tax to 24 per cent; reducing the levies charge to 2 per cent and increasing the threshold at which they become payable to £216 per week and standard rating personal and PAYE allowances which facilitated significant increases in these allowances in the budget.