PRESS RELEASE

08/08/2005

Letter to the Irish Times re Liz MacManus on Labour's record

Liz MacManus says by all means examine Labour's record in office. Indeed.

Unemployment was more than twice the level of what it is now. Today Ireland
has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union.

Workers were hit for income tax when they earned less than 100 Euro a week.
Today they can earn up to 274 Euro. This means that just two out of three
earners pay income tax, compared to three out of four when Labour occupied
the Department of Finance.

Since 1997, average tax rates have fallen for all categories of taxpayer,
for example, the average tax rate, that is, income tax, PRSI and health
levy combined, for the person on the average industrial wage has reduced by
over ten percentage points from over 27.6% in 1997 to less than 17% in
2005.

In 1997, the average industrial wage was 19,372Euro. 5,348 Euro of this went in
tax. In 2005, the average industrial wage is over Euro 30, 700 - and now the
tax liability is just 5,134 Euro.

Also, it is estimated that in 2005 the proportion of the income tax yield
coming from those earning at or under the average industrial wage is
projected to be about 5.9%. The equivalent figure in 1997 was over 14%.

As for Corporation Tax, the Rainbow Government only got as far as informing
the European Commission of an initial intention to introduce a 12.5 per
cent rate by 2006. It was only actually secured after the Rainbow left
office. The Labour party then opposed the reduction to 12.5 per cent in the
2003 budget