Irish Government Firmly Rejects Opposition Tax Claim

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

17 November 2004

Ireland’s Justice Minister Michael McDowell has poured scorn on a report released by opposition party Fine Gael which alleged that the government has increased the average family tax bill by €9,000 per year.

The document, written by Fine Gael spokesman for finance Richard Bruton, accused the government of doubling taxes between 1997 and 2004.

Addressing a meeting of the Cork Progressive Democrats, McDowell responded angrily to the accusation, stating that the analysis was “utterly bogus”, and criticising Fine Gael’s own taxation proposals.

“Rather than make a single specific taxation or spending proposal, Fine Gael have sought refuge in a thicket of meddlesome and cumbersome administrative proposals,” he remarked.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern also rejected Bruton’s claim that taxes have been squandered on unnecessary spending, arguing that the nation’s civil servants are “working hard”, and noting that Ireland is “an expanding country with high growth rates.”

However, the government’s response was apparently not enough to placate the opposition party, as a spokesman told Ireland Online that the Justice Minister “did not contradict the fact that there has been a massive waste of taxpayers' money under this administration".

“We are now definitively paying more tax than under the Rainbow Coalition,” he added.

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