We need €3bn more in taxes, campaigners say

IRELAND needs to raise up to €3billion in additional tax revenue per year to fund a ‘fair, equal and progressive’ future for the country, a social justice campaign group has argued.

Social Justice Ireland published its annual socio-economic review yesterday.

The organisation argues that Ireland needs to increase and broaden its tax base by the massive sum to keep Exchequer funds safe through uncertain economic times.

It says the €3billion is also necessary to help fund decent public services as well as to upgrade ageing national infrastructure.

‘We want to chart a course to a better Ireland, that is what this review is about,’ said Seán Healy, chief executive of Social Justice Ireland.

‘At the foundation of that is how we raise taxes and how much tax we raise. We are a low-revenue economy, yet we are one of the richest countries in the world. It should be a priority to find those additional resources, not to squander the resources we have.’

The organisation claims that the review, titled Social Justice Matters: 2018 Guide To A Fairer Society, aims to persuade policymakers to adopt a different approach.

Eamon Murphy, an economic and social analysit with the organisation, said: ‘We need to collect sufficient tax to ensure full participation in society for all, through a fair tax system in which those who have more pay more, while those who have less pay less.

‘With this book, policymakers have a guide for how that can be done.’

Social Justice Ireland argues that the money can be raised from measures such as a minimum effective corporate tax rate of 10%, a financial transactions tax, eco-taxes, and increasing the minimum effective tax rates on high earners.