TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS said he hopes to have a five-year Fine Gael tax plan in place by the end of the year as he hones in on tax reductions for low and middle-income earners. 

Harris said today he has tasked Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe and Junior Minister Neale Richmond with working on the five-year plan. 

The Taoiseach said his two priorities when it comes to the next Budget will be reducing USC for middle and low-income earners and improving the rate at which people enter the higher rate of tax. 

Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1 this morning, the Taoiseach would not be drawn on whether this would include the introduction of a 30% rate of tax as had previously been favoured by his predecessor Leo Varadkar.

“I believe that too many people are paying the higher rate of tax on too low an income,” Harris said. 

He added however that the cost-of-living is not just about tax and noted that the cost of childcare is a serious issue for people.

“The days of the only conversation being about tax in terms of how you can help people is a bit of a jaded one,” the Taoiseach said. 

“We have to look at a whole variety of different areas,” he added.