Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton has re-iterated his belief that the Government should reduce the tax burden on working families but he declined to be drawn on whether it should be achieved through cutting tax rates or widening tax bands.

Mr Bruton said he believed the Government would have to look at reducing the tax burden on low- and middle-income families in “a balanced way” as he believed that the current tax rates were not conducive towards growing employment.

“I think we will have to consider that (reducing the tax burden) in a balanced way in the budget - it’s well over a year since I highlighted one aspect of our problem is that people hit the 52per cent, the high rate of tax, at extremely low levels of income -that is not good for employment,” he said.

"It creates a wedge between what employers pay and what workers get at relatively modest pay - that's one area we have to look it but we have to get a balanced package and that will be the job of Michael Noonan with our cabinet colleagues to come up with a package," he added.

Asked if as an economist, he favoured one method over another, Mr Bruton was reluctant to be drawn, pointing out that it Ireland was both an economy and a society and there was a need for balance in the approach.

“I think every family has felt the strains of this. We need to see low and middle income families seeing some relief but more importantly seeing a road map that shows that the progress we are making on the economy will bring them relief in the years ahead as well as what is possible this year.”

Asked about the future of US multi-national corporation, Apple which employs 4,000 people at its European HQ in Cork in the wake of OECD plans to eliminate international tax loopholes, Mr Bruton said he was confident that Apple was committed to Cork and to Ireland.

“I am confident that Apple are here for the long term because they have got what they need, they have transformed their business here, this is a centre of excellence for them and I believe we are well positioned to continue to be a very attractive location for Apple,” he said.

“Ireland has been very much involved in this process led by the OECD looking at the way the interplay of different tax codes can be exploited by certain companies and there are such structures across many countries which have been used.”

“We deal with Apple as with all of our companies on a very regular basis and they are a very strong company - this issue in relation to the European Investigation is something government has been over - we believe we can defend that case and will do so very strongly but from our point of view ,

"Apple is a very important employer, they have transformed themselves here in Cork over the years and we believe that Cork offers them a great site for future development," said Mr Bruton during a visit to Cork to announce 100 new jobs at IDA Ireland support software company, Solar Winds.