Deputy Crowe said “This is another example of how the sovereignty of this state has been handed over. The Taoiseach must come before the Dáil and explain how these documents are being discussed by a German budget committee before their contents have been revealed to the Oireachtas.

“Then, we hear from German sources, that the government intends to increase the VAT rate to 23%, increasing an unbearable burden on families and damaging an already depressed retail sector. This is an indiscriminate tax that disproportionately hits low income families the hardest as they have no other choice to pay for goods that have been hit with a rise in VAT. It will bring many closer to the poverty line and force people to go without even the most basis and essential items.

“This likely rise in VAT, coupled with the household charge, is another indication that this government has lost its way and is out of touch with the realities of people’s lives.

“There are families barely able to feed their children,pay heating and electricity,pay their mortgages, keep their children in books and uniforms, send their child to college  and now they are to be expected to pay another flat tax.”