Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I propose to share time with Deputy Morgan.

I do not know if the public servants are feeling better after that speech but I am sure Deputy Gogarty feels better, having got it off his chest. He is an honest Deputy, who believes what he says, but that was a fierce bout of self-flagellation and an unusual attack on his coalition partners, which he believes is richly merited.

Deputy Gogarty said that this measure is not fair and he is right. We have all received hundreds of e-mails from public servants detailing their personal circumstances, their personal outlays, the internal inconsistencies in the Bill, and detailing their sense of grievance at being singled out. They always come back to one theme, which is that it is not fair. Where is the fairness in this measure? They are prepared to make a contribution provided everyone makes a contribution according to their means.

Last Saturday, at my clinic, I met a young woman who explained to me in considerable detail that after paying her essential bills she has €11 left per week. The levy will cost €35 per week, so she is down €24. She asked me for suggestions on what she can do in these circumstances. Public servants are intelligent people and they acknowledge that we have been plunged into an incredible hole. They are willing to make a contribution but they want all sectors of society to make a contribution.

Deputy Richard Bruton dealt with the paucity of economic planning, the absence of a plan for recovery and the scanty information published by the Department of Finance. He referred to the fact that the only document resembling the bones of a plan was the document agreed with the social partners before talks collapsed. One cannot give credit to the Government for this document, which is essentially the work of the trade union movement. It has not been debated in this House, nor has it been read into the Official Report of the House, and I do not have time to do so now. The draft framework for a pact for stabilisation, social solidarity and economic renewal bears reading. It is tragic that the Government abandoned it. I am not saying the Government is responsible for the breakdown, which occurred because the Government put figures on this plan on the last day and the trade unions could not live with them because of their manifest unfairness and the way in which very low paid people were being asked to make a contribution beyond their means. The Government has abandoned the document. The Taoiseach comes into the House and tells us he is anxious to keep social partnership going but, at the same time, he has abandoned the document. The approach of the document is interesting and is markedly in contrast with what we have got since.

It states:

In developing a pact, the Government and social partners are fully committed to an approach in which all sectors of society contribute in accordance with their ability to do so, and conversely the most vulnerable, low paid, unemployed and social welfare recipients are insulated against the worst effects of recession.

On public expenditure the document indicated the adjustment would be achieved based on "ensuring a fair and equitable spread of the burden of adjustment". It goes on to list the number of headings that might be dealt with on public expenditure but again, they are not fleshed out and have not been referred to since. On taxation, the document states that, "Changes are to be fair and equitable, with a higher proportion falling on higher incomes while minimising distortionary effects between different forms of tax".

We are not minimising distortionary effects. For example, we know that taking the example of a person in the public service earning €38,000 a year, under the provisions of the Bill that person will pay €1,966 on the salary. If the person was on €48,000 per year, he or she would pay €1,992. A person on €38,966 — essentially €39,000 — will pay €2,030 but if that person earns €10,000 more per year, they will pay less as a levy. That is the kind of anomaly in the Bill that congress was providing against.

The entire document was based on the notion of social solidarity and it has gone out the window with this Bill. Public servants feel very aggrieved about it, particularly the conflict that has been whipped up between the public and private sectors. We all know that in real life the distinction is between people on high income and those on low income. That is the real divide in our society.

For public servants, the salt is being rubbed into the wound as they see this happening before their eyes. The take is huge and Deputy Gogarty is correct in stating it is an income levy. It is a severe pay cut for people on modest incomes. At the same time these people see what is happening at the top of the banks and the Government's timidity in dealing with the issue.

I have a quote from a current Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, who is my constituency colleague. Deputy Lenihan was giving the benefit of his thoughts on financial regulation at the time and bringing his entire brainpower to bear on it.

See this speech in context