I see arriving into the Gallery some of the Stardust families who have handed in a petition today. I extend a very warm welcome to them and wish them the very best in their campaign to reopen the inquest into that fire on St. Valentine's Day 1981. Tá fáilte romhaibh.

At the weekend, to rapturous applause, the Taoiseach made the bold claim that he would, if re-elected, deliver five years of tax cuts. He did not couch his comments with the word "but" or explain to people that his plan was to give with one hand and to take back with the other. However, this is exactly what we see with the latest announcement that tens of thousands of workers, many of them very low-paid workers, will lose their entitlement to claim flat-rate expenses. This was confirmed in the response of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to a parliamentary question tabled by my colleague, an Teachta Pearse Doherty, last week. We are talking here about a few bob that workers claim to cover the cost of equipment that they need for work, things like uniforms, tools and stationery. We are not talking about wholesale tax breaks which, as the Taoiseach knows, others enjoy. We are talking about very legitimate and necessary expenditure which certain categories of workers incur as part of their jobs. Some 75,822 shop assistants, the group worst affected, will lose more than €120 a year. This will mean a net saving to the Exchequer of €9 million per annum. It is hardly a massive outlay. Nonetheless, the loss of it for individual workers on low wages will be felt. This entire proposal is a prime example of policy set at a complete disconnect from reality. The high cost of living weighing down on ordinary workers cannot be tackled if the taxman snipes away at the very modest and necessary expenses they can claim.

Let us contrast this with the Government's treatment of the super-rich. As of this summer, there were nearly 500 high-wealth individuals who possess wealth in excess of €50 million each. In 2015 this cohort claimed a combined €93 million in tax credits, a great multiple of what was claimed by low-paid workers. Of this sum, €45 million was claimed in capital allowances, mostly by landlords claiming tax relief on furniture. The very rich can avail of €93 million in tax reliefs, yet the Taoiseach wants to scrap the very small tax relief of a couple of euro a week for ordinary working people. This is unbelievable. Ending the tax break for banks would have brought in €175 million; ending the tax break for multinational corporations, which onshore-----

The Deputy will have another minute.

-----intangible assets, would have raised €750 million.

I call the Taoiseach to respond.

When it comes to priorities, it is obvious where the Government stands.

I call the Taoiseach to respond.

Ordinary workers fall to the bottom of the pile yet again.

Please, Deputy. Let us have some order.

Will the Taoiseach instruct Revenue to scrap this move without delay?

I call the Taoiseach to respond.

I am happy to clarify the situation. The Revenue Commissioners have an ongoing review of concessionary flat-rate expenses. The review is to ensure that the expenses granted are still justified and are appropriate to modern-day employment and work practices. As a result, they said that certain flat-rate reductions for tax purposes may be withdrawn in certain sectors. This would not have an effective date and would not take place before 1 January 2020 so it will have no impact on people's incomes next year and no impact on the budget announcements or budget calculations for 2019.

The Revenue is independent in the administration of the tax code and this issue relates to concessionary practices operated for ease of administration. There will be no change to the general rule set out in legislation and all employees will still be able to claim deductions for valid expenses incurred to the extent not reimbursed by the employer. While certain employees may no longer be able to get a deduction on a universal flat-rate basis, they will still be able to get a deduction on a specific vouched basis. It is a move away from flat-rate expenses to a vouched basis and will not take effect until 1 January 2020, if at all.

I am certainly happy to clarify that for the Deputy. I have seen some coverage which would give a very different impression as to what is happening. I am interested to see that the Deputy once again returns to the theme of the super-rich and my priorities. That causes me to ask a question about Deputy McDonald's relations with the super-rich and her priorities. I read in the Irish Independent - I thought it was Waterford Whispers News at first but it actually was the Irish Independent - that on 11 November, on the day of the Armistice, when all of the party leaders here remembered the war dead and paid respect to those people who gave their lives in that war, when we that evening showed respect to our Constitution and inaugurated our President, Deputy McDonald was in New York. She was hobnobbing with the super-rich at a $400 a plate lunch for her super-rich supporters.

Oh my God.

Does she not see any hypocrisy in that? She comes in here, day after day, and accuses us of having some sort of special relationship with the super-rich and of having the wrong priorities. On the day of the Armistice, however, a particularly important day for Protestant and unionist people in this country, on the day we inaugurated our President, on the day we showed respect for our Constitution, Deputy McDonald was in New York drinking champagne and eating $400 a plate lunches with the super-rich.

Oh my God.

On 14 November, I think it was, I was in Sligo Grammar School at a remembrance service which was absolutely wonderful and inclusive.

She got no cash.

Indeed, all of the party leaders had been invited but I went and I paid my respects there. This is the list of the categories of workers to which this flat-rate expenses scheme applies. It includes people such as panel beaters, kitchen porters, nurses and members of the Defence Forces, whom we all know are appallingly paid at the lower ranks in any event. The Taoiseach wants to create for these workers an elaborate system for them to vouch and claim very modest reliefs.

Many of these workers will look into this Chamber, will have heard the words of the Taoiseach and will know that many of the expenses enjoyed in this Chamber are not vouched. There is no such elaborate paperwork required. The Taoiseach's answer simply amplifies his position. A very different view is taken of the very rich, the very wealthy, the banks, the billion dollar corporates and the landlords. Landlords claimed an astonishing figure of €45 million in capital allowances and the lion's share of that was claimed for tax reliefs on furniture.

I call the Taoiseach to respond.

By the way, Deputy Pearse Doherty advises me that the Taoiseach's response indicated that none of this kicks in until 2020. In the answer Deputy Doherty received, he was advised that it takes effect from 1 January 2019. The date is looming. I ask the Taoiseach again. Notwithstanding his jibes against me, will he, for once, empathise-----

Please, Deputy McDonald.

-----put himself in the shoes of retail workers, of shop assistants-----

I have to control the House.

-----and give them a break for once?

I call the Taoiseach to respond.

This is rank hypocrisy from Sinn Féin. We hear it far too often. We have already seen the leader of Sinn Féin exposed in her attitude to the Armistice and her attitude to our President and our Constitution. She chose to hobnob with the super-rich in America at a $400 a plate lunch rather than respect the war dead or respect our President. We see members of Sinn Féin trying to claim that somehow they can put themselves in the shoes of low-paid shop workers while we know for years and years they told porkies about their own salaries. I refer to the false claim that they were living on the average industrial wage. We actually know they were living very well on the wages they were claiming.

This hypocrisy really needs to be called out.

Answer the question.

Anybody who thinks Sinn Féin cares about any person on low pay should know that it has been exposed time and again. The note I have indicates that any change will not take effect until 1 January. I will confirm that that is the case later today. It is a move away from unvouched to vouched expenses. At the same time in the Finance Bill we are clamping down left, right and centre on tax breaks and tax evasion. It includes putting a limit on the special assignee relief programme, the exit tax, closing the double Irish and getting rid of concepts such as stateless corporations.