Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

There are 50,000 primary school pupils who attend classes in prefabs. There are people whose children sit in the very prefabs in which they sat 25 or 30 years ago. In our experience, temporary measures tend to have a certain degree of longevity that creates certain doubts in people's minds with regard to the nature of such measures. I ask the Minister to consider what, in most people's experience, is meant by a temporary measure.

The wording used in the amendments tabled by my party and Fine Gael may not be acceptable to the Minister. That is perfectly fine. However, Report Stage is due to be taken before 10.30 p.m. If the Minister wants to avoid the industrial unrest that has not been manufactured but which manifestly is apparent, I urge him to reconsider his position. The statement he insisted on reading belittles him. Referring to the review of a review being outsourced to PricewaterhouseCoopers or some other firm is way below the competence of his Department or that of the public service.

I will not be present in the House later this evening. However, I put it to the Minister that — in the context of both the sunset clause and the remarks made by the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions earlier — he cannot realistically respond to the olive branch offered by David Begg who, when speaking on radio this morning, accepted in principle that some form of levy was probably necessary. He also indicated, however, that the definition, context and application of the proposed levy needed to be reviewed. The Tánaiste may have gone on a solo run when she went even further in her definition of tweaking.

The Minister should indicate that he will be able, by way of regulation rather than review, to alter and vary the terms of the application of the levy. What was manifestly absent from his statement was reference to the use of secondary legislation to alter the application of the terms and conditions of the review. This is my understanding of the Minister's statement on first hearing, although I may be misinformed. I accept this debate may not be the appropriate forum in which to provide an answer.

I ask the Minister to consider the 50,000 children being educated in prefabricated school buildings. Many of these children are the second generation of their families to find themselves in this position. The word "temporary" means "permanent" for many people in this society.

I also ask the Minister to consider introducing a mechanism to enable dialogue to commence between the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Government about the application of the pension levy. While most people believe in principle that this measure is probably necessary, they do so on condition that it is perceived as fair.

The Minister varied the proposal to remove medical cards from those aged over 70 when he changed the original blunderbuss measure and a more refined proposal ultimately emerged. He must use a similar mechanism before 10.30 p.m. to find a similar degree of flexibility, particularly as he will need all the flexibility he can get.

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