Taoiseach Enda Kenny has pledged to remove the anomaly that sees self-employed people pay more tax than PAYE workers on the same pay.

“The discriminatory tax treatment of self-employed people inherited by this Government can no longer be justified,” he said when addressing IBEC – the Irish Business and Employers Confederation – on Wednesday. He admitted it would take years to harmonise tax treatment of the different sectors.

The fact that farmers are one of the few sections of society denied the PAYE allowance has been repeatedly raised by IFA and other farming organisations. It seems that the lobby campaign, going back to when current president Eddie Downey was Farm Business Committee chairman, is finally paying off.

Currently, the PAYE tax credit is €1,650. The IFA, in its submission to 2014’s agri-taxation review, said this means farmers enter the tax bracket at half the income of PAYE workers – €8,000 compared with €16,000.