We need an extra €2.5bn - €3bn in tax if we are serious about addressing the deficits in our society

Ireland needs to have a real debate about the level of public services and social infrastructure it wishes to have in the coming decades and how these are to be financed, writes Eamon Murphy.

GOVERNMENT policy at the moment is to reduce total revenue – of which tax is by far the largest component – as a percentage of national income. With that will come a corresponding real reduction in expenditure.