Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

The Government's proposals to cut €1.4 billion from the public pay bill will do nothing to help the finances of the country. Neither will they have the support of the public, because they are fundamentally unfair. The Government proposes to cut the pay of all those in the public service, simply because they are public servants and are, therefore, the soft option. The majority of public servants bear no responsibility whatsoever for the country's economic problems, yet they are the ones being asked to pay the price.

It is the developers and builders who made massive profits from the housing bubble who should be the first to pay the price for our current woes. Those in the banking world, who have contributed largely to the current banking crisis, should also pay the price. It is these and the others who facilitated their activities who should bear the responsibility, be punished and pay.

The Government's proposals are unjust because they make no attempt to share the burden across the community. Solidarity is about people pulling together, but it is also about everyone paying his or her share, based on ability to pay. There is no attempt in the proposals to ensure that those with high incomes, whether from salaries, rents, professional fees in the public or private sector, shares, fees as company directors or benefits from the many tax shelters and allowances, pay. Why is it that these people get away with it yet again?

The public service should make sacrifices, but with all other sectors. It is time to consider capping all public sector pay at a realistic level, for example, at the €150,000 mark. We should also stop all bonus payments and increments for those earning over €100,000. I agree too that Deputies' expenses should be reduced and vouched.

The most unfair aspect of the Government's proposals is the fact they hit all public servants, no matter how low their income. Why should anyone with an income under €50,000 have to take a pay cut? Let me give the Minister an example of how these cuts will impact on people. Ministers are fond of using imaginary families as an example at budget time, so I want the Minister to imagine a family of a husband, wife and three children where the husband works in the public sector and the wife works in the home.

The husband earns €40,000 gross and takes home approximately €35,000 per annum or €673 per week. The State deems that this family does not have sufficient income in order to live with dignity and for that reason the family receives a family income supplement of €1,040. Now, under these proposals, the State will take €2,750 from that family. On the one hand the State gives a supplement to the family because it does not have enough to live on, but on the other hand it removes a far greater sum by way of this levy. This demonstrates how unjust and unfair are these proposals. They will hit people who are struggling to keep their heads above water. This is the equivalent of trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

The proposals are unjust also in that they make no attempt to share the burden across the community. This is not a plan to get the economy going again. It does nothing for jobs. It does the opposite, by proposing to take €1.4 billion out of the economy. This means increasing numbers of public servants will cross the Border to do their shopping. Less money will be spent on services here and fewer goods will be bought. In the long term, these cuts will lead to greater levels of unemployment, because much of the employment in the private sector results from employment in the public sector and the moneys spent by that sector.

There is no fairness in these proposals. They do not have the support of the public and will not achieve what the Government intends to achieve. They should be rejected.

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