The Tánaiste is right in saying there has not been a public consultation in relation to this issue. The funds review was separate. It looked at the taxation aspect but did not argue for this type of savings and investment scheme.

That was not the consultation that was under review at that time. To tell the Minister the God’s honest truth, we know very little because we are still in the dark in relation to what this scheme is going to look like. We are told it is going to be announced on budget day. There has been no consultation with the public. There has been consultation with stakeholders, other groups, with very wealthy asset managers and so on. The Minister has had extensive meetings with asset managers, wealth managers, financial plann…

We have discussed deemed disposal and how that could be changed, making sure it does not just benefit the ultra-rich and allow for the avoidance of tax on significant assets. There is a real question in relation to the public scrutiny of what is going on. The Minister said we know a lot but, in fairness, we do not. We do not know what the thresholds are going to be. We do not know what the rate is going to be. We do not know if there is going to be tax inside the investment. We do not know if it is going to be for …

What about public consultation?

I am trying to get to the bottom of what the Minister's intentions are for excise duty. Last week, he passed the Finance Bill in the House, and that Bill will see the price of diesel increased by 32 cent and the price of petrol increased by 27 cent. That is just a number of weeks away, on 1 August. People are aghast at the idea that in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis prices would rise again. In some cases, prices will go up to €2 per litre, given where they are at the moment. The Finance Bill is going through…

I am well aware of the legislation, the 1920s Act which requires financial resolutions to be put into primary legislation within four months. The reality is that the Government last week voted against deferring the increase until budget day. As things currently stand in Irish tax law, diesel will go up by 32 cent and petrol will go up by 27 cent in August. The Dáil is only sitting for another three weeks. There are people and businesses, including hauliers, that have to plan. They are wondering about the contracts …

First of all, that does not provide the clarity that is needed. This is not as simple as the Tánaiste said, which was that this was putting the resolution into primary legislation.

It is not.

The Government voted against delaying this measure until budget day. It voted against not increasing costs on 1 August. That is what happened last week. The Tánaiste was not here, was he?

Perhaps the Tánaiste was not here. Let us be clear: that was what the vote was last week. Amendments were put down to defer this measure until budget day for consideration so that these increases would not happen when the Dáil was on holidays. If the Government decides to increase the costs of petrol and diesel, even if it decides that they will only go up by 20 cent, we do not know what is going to happen the week prior to that and the Dáil will not be sitting. The sensible thing to do was to accept what Sinn Féin…

There was a vote on the amendment.

Is the Dáil going to sit?

Sorry, is the Dáil sitting on 1 August?

Perhaps the Tánaiste will clarify. Is the Dáil now going to sit? Is this the Government announcing that the Dáil will be sitting on 1 August to respond?

Is that what the Tánaiste is going to say?

The Tánaiste has made it public that he plans to bring forward tax cuts in this year's budget after leaving workers worse off in last year's budget. That is according not only to Sinn Féin but also to the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. In the election campaign, the Government parties promised to bring forward tax cuts every year and broke that promise to workers and families. The fact that workers were left worse off last year is why it is even more important that any tax package for workers is fair …

When Fine Gael has brought forward tax packages, they have always been two-tier tax packages, which means those on the higher end benefit more than those on the lower end. About half of the workforce benefits far more than the other half. A worker on €50,000 gets a tax cut multiple times larger than a worker on €40,000. I understand the challenges in adjusting tax bands and adjusting for inflation. It is not simple, but there are ways in which it is possible. For example, more focus on the USC and tax credits would…

-----got far less than they should have.

I am not dismissing anything. What I am saying is that the Government has consistently brought forward tax packages that are two-tier. For example, the Tánaiste talked about the entry point to the higher rate. If that is focused on instead of USC or tax credits, there will be winners and losers. The winners will be the half of the population who earn more than €44,000 and the losers will be those who earn less than €44,000. What is the better way? When I talk to constituents who earn €60,000 and would benefit from …

-----that the first €45,000 of income should be exempt from USC. That can be started in an emergency budget.