I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill on the pension levy. It goes without saying this is a difficult time for all of the public sector. No one wants to see money being taken from his or her own pocket.

To give some of my own background, it is not long since I was a civil engineering technician in Donegal County Council and a former member of IMPACT. I am well aware of how this is impinging on people across the State, I know from people close to me and party workers. I am also well aware of the many workers who lost their jobs and who would do anything to get a job in the morning but the jobs are not there. I know others who have taken a pay cut of 25%, with one person taking a 35% cut, who are still happy to have their jobs. It is good to put things in perspective but that is not happening at present because the Opposition is blindfolded. We hear of parties arranging marches for the weekend. Some parties in this State will be remembered for nothing except arranging marches and I hope voters bear that in mind come polling day.

I remember when I started working for Donegal County Council just over 13 years ago. I was earning just over €17,000. If I was still employed there today, with different agreements with unions and promotion, I would be earning €41,000. That puts this in perspective. While times are difficult, we must recognise where we came from. When I reflect back on earning €17,000, I would never have imagined I would be on €41,000 if I was still working there 13 years later.

Perhaps it is unfair of me to try to compare the wage I am on now and what I could be on but we must look at the facts and recognise there has been a 25% increase in the number of public sector workers since then. I have taken that figure from the top of my head but I believe 25% more people are working in the public sector and it is important to keep that in mind.

This levy protects public sector jobs and pensions. Any cut in wages would affect everyone's pension entitlements. The one positive message that has to be sent out to balance this is that while a person is taking a cut in his wages to pay for his pension, his pension and his job are being protected.

We have been pushing hard in recent weeks to hear proposals from the Opposition parties. They have all the answers but no solutions. Some proposals have been to cut jobs, such as the Fine Gael proposal to cut 5,000 public sector jobs. The party said it quietly but it said it. That does not solve our problem, it goes less than a third of the way, but it is important that people realise the alternatives facing the Government. This is the best choice. Despite all the criticism, no one on the other side of the House has come up with a better option.

I would be the first to say it will be difficult for families but if we want to protect public service jobs in future, we must step up to the mark. While it would be easy to try to borrow our way out of this, we would pay for it in the long run. The Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government — the Green Party is very supportive and good in this Government — must be commended for the approach it has taken.

It is important we state the facts in regard to the amount of money people will contribute. Figures in the public domain are not factual and most are based on gross income. People have not factored in tax allowances. It is important unions give proper information to public sector workers because it is one of their roles. While I am not saying unions are irresponsible, they must be responsible and ensure their workers get proper information. The information workers have is based on gross income. They have no figures on what they will pay when tax allowances are factored in. The figures in the public domain are extraordinary and proper information must be filtered down to public service workers in order that they can get a true picture. It is a very frightening time for them and we are just adding to the upset.

I have received many e-mails from public sector workers in Donegal and throughout the country who have been told they will pay €40 to €50 per week. One husband and wife believe they will pay €400 to €500 per month. One would have to earn almost €200,000 per year to pay up to €500 per month. The facts and figures in the public domain are not correct. I do not believe it is fair for me to give figures today but public servants should equip themselves with proper information. There is tax relief in respect of the levy. Information is available and I believe all Deputies would be forthcoming with this detail, if contacted. I certainly would be and I would welcome anybody coming to me to find out the true situation.

In fairness to the social partners, I must give them credit for coming in and for spending so long with the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Tánaiste. We must give them credit for the time and effort they put in and for the fact they recognise that €2 billion must be saved. They also indicated they are willing to work with the Government in the future to ensure this country is in a good position to fight this global recession and is in a good position when the good times return.

I welcome the effort made by the social partners which was criticised by some in the Opposition. They asked why Fianna Fáil and the Green Party were negotiating with the social partners and said that we were the politicians and that we should make the decisions. Now that we have done that, they are saying we should go back and talk to the social partners again.

We must realise decisive action needs to be taken not only for the good of our books but for the good of the global market. We are being watched not only in Ireland but further afield. Stability is very important in Government. It is important we all recognise how reckless we can be sometimes by saying the wrong things. We have had examples of that. As I mentioned last night, a few comments about banks being bust or otherwise can be so reckless in terms of our markets. We must be smarter in the way we conduct our business.

I have watched the head hunt in recent days in regard to the circle of ten. I have said that I hope the circle of ten is not uncovered until such time as the authorities have investigated everything and are in a position to take things further. If criminal proceedings are required, so be it. However, I fear that if those people are named in this House, so much will be said in the Chamber and outside it that it will damage the prospect of making those individuals face prosecution, if necessary.

The public is rightly angry about the banking situation. The past number of weeks has not been a very nice time for Ireland but the Government is dealing very well with this issue and it is taking a very honourable approach to it. It is a damage limitation exercise in terms of how it is going about it but the next number of weeks will prove that its decisions in regard to the banking sector are correct, as is the way it is conducting its investigations. Ireland will come out of this in a very good light in a couple of weeks when matters come to a head, and I have no doubt matters will come to a head. While we would all like to see things happen quickly, there must be due process which, thankfully, is the case at present. I hope that will continue.

It is a very tough time for small businesses which have not been done any favours lately in regard to the availability of cash and small loans to keep afloat. The Minister for Finance is working very hard on this and I expect results from him sooner rather than later. I would like him to ensure those small businesses get the necessary funding because they are not getting a fair deal from some institutions and it is time they did.

A number of small businesses have fought hard to survive over the past six months. If they do not get help soon, they will have no option but to close. These small businesses are not only providing jobs for the public, but they are providing small contract jobs for the public service, including local authorities. They are getting contracts which are guaranteed, because they are Government funded, but the banks will not make loans available to them even though the money is guaranteed. I hope the Minister for Finance moves on that quickly.

I refer again to the pension levy. We all know many people who are facing tough times. I appeal to the public sector to look around to see who is proposing anything else which would add up to what is required, that is, €2 billion. If we had any other option, this would be the last one we would take. No suggestion or otherwise has been made by any other party or organisation in this country which would raise the €2 billion. It is easy to criticise. Perhaps some of those who are good at criticising should spend time putting their heads together to come forward with decent proposals on how €2 billion could be saved.

I do not know where the Labour Party gets its ideas, but much and all as we would like to do it, its proposal to go after tax exiles, which would, apparently, raise €150 million, is nonsense. The only way to chase after them would be through their passport numbers. We all know that vast numbers of Irish people live abroad, but most of them are not tax exiles. The idea of tracking down tax exiles through their passport numbers to get money from them is farcical. It is not possible.

It is time we got real and constructive. The people are not fools. While they may be sore at the current proposals, in the long run they will recognise the Government has taken tough, hard decisions, not for any short-term party political gain, but for the long-term benefit of the country. When people recognise this, they will realise they were right to elect this Government and will do so again.

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