A business lobby group made a similar suggestion in its pre-budget submission on tax incentives for returning Irish emigrants to the one made by Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

Ms Mitchell O’Connor had suggested to the Department of Finance that high-earning Irish workers returning home could avail of a programme that effectively reduced their taxable income.

However, when details were leaked to the media, the idea was quickly shot down by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the basis that Irish citizens paying different tax rates for similar work was inequitable.

In its pre-budget submission to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland said that the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) – which applies to high-earning non-Irish citizens who transfer here to work in specialist positions with multinational companies – should also be extended to Irish citizens returning from abroad.

Disregard

The chamber’s submission said it should only apply to those earning €75,000 or more and should be available to them for a maximum of three years. The SARP programme allows an individual to disregard 30 per cent of their income above €75,000 for tax purposes. The relief is for tax only and not for USC or for PRSI. The American chamber argued, in its submission, that the disregard for SARP generally should also include USC and PRSI.

In the event, no changes were made to SARP in the Budget other than to extend the existing scheme for a further three years until the end of 2020.

Interest groups

The submission was one of over 300 received by the Department of Finance in advance of the budget on Tuesday. Among those who lobbied Mr Noonan were the biggest interest groups in the State, including IBEC, Construction Industry Federation, the Irish Farmers’ Association, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Exporters Association, charities (including St Vincent de Paul) and individuals.

The dominant theme from many of the submissions was the threat posed to Irish industry and workers by a hard Brexit and the sharp devaluation of sterling in recent months.

There was intensive lobbying by groups over some contentious measures, primarily the intended sugar tax.