WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME:PADDY CROFT Porter, Tallaght hospital
YESTERDAY’S BUDGET contained lots of “little snips” that will add up to a “big cut” for everybody, said Paddy Croft.
However, it should have been scaled so it hit higher earners, he said. “I was hit with the so-called pension levy and the 5 per cent reduction [in pay] last year, and this is going to impact again,” he said.
The scrapping of tax relief on trade union subscriptions will affect Paddy as he is a member of Siptu. He will also be hit by the 10 per cent reduction in tax bands and credits.
Paddy is separated with three children, two of whom are still eligible for child benefit, which is being cut by €10 per month from January 2011. “What’s going to happen is there will be a reduction for them [his children], and I’m going to have to pay,” he said.
He is on a “basic wage” and said the Budget would make things more difficult for him, but he has yet to see how it’s going to translate “moneywise”.
Apart from using the tax system to target higher earners, Paddy has one other suggestion for fixing the economic crisis: “We might get Bob Geldof to do a Live Aid – for Ireland.”