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Minister says tax bands need to be raised to fight brain drain

A cabinet minister says Ireland needs to raise its tax bands in order to fight a brain drain. Leo...
Newstalk
Newstalk

11.50 30 Sep 2013


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Minister says tax bands need t...

Minister says tax bands need to be raised to fight brain drain

Newstalk
Newstalk

11.50 30 Sep 2013


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A cabinet minister says Ireland needs to raise its tax bands in order to fight a brain drain. Leo Varadkar says the higher rate of income tax kicks in far too early in Ireland and encourages workers to go overseas.

The Tourism Minister says that while career prospects will encourage people to emigrate, the Irish tax system does not do enough to get them to stay.

Minister Varadkar says the problem cannot be tackled immediately but needs to be addressed.

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The Jobs Minister said last week that employment is the answer to emigration despite the UCC study showing nearly half of those leaving here were in full-time jobs. While just under 40% of these left to travel.

And despite not experiencing the same level of unemployment as Spain or Greece, more people have left Ireland during the recession than any other Western European country.

Emigrants are also much more likely to have a high standard of education than the general population. 62% of recent emigrants had a third-level qualification, up from 47% of the rest of the country's 25-34-year-olds.

The report found that emigration has the greatest effect in rural parts of the country, while at least one-in-four households in extremely rural areas has seen a family member leave since 2006. Another 28% said it was likely a family member would leave within the next three years.


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