The Taoiseach has admitted that a proposal from one of his ministers to lure emigrants home with a special tax rate would be 'unfair and discriminatory'.
The Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor proposed the idea in a pre-budget submission to the Department of Finance.
It was suggested that a lower 30% rate would apply to certain categories of workers for up to five years.
The lower tax rate would be aimed at those earning in excess of €75,000 in specialist jobs in areas such as medicine, science, IT and finance.
After the Fianna Fáil leader described it as a "bananas idea", Enda Kenny agreed it would not be a fair thing to introduce.
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said: "Somebody away in London or New York or America, wherever, and they come back, and they're working in the same facility as somebody else and they're paying a different rate of tax simply because they've come back?
"I would regard that as being unfair and discriminatory, of course."
