Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

In February the Taoiseach said he would listen attentively if there were proposals to tweak the pension levy that would bring the unions back on side. Has there been a tweaking of the levy? I welcome the unions' response to the Government's invitation to talks and their calling off of the day of national industrial action. However, the discussions must, to some extent, be meaningful. Will the Taoiseach tell the social partners he is in a position or intends to address the unfairness of the levy, which was a central issue to the unions, in the emergency budget?

The Dáil never gets any of the information discussed between the social partners and the Government, which is a shame. Last week, Fine Gael put together a detailed document, broadly welcomed by the Government Chief Whip, which outlined how we believe 100,000 jobs can be created in four years. It deals with the leveraging of money which would not pile more on the national debt and which could create hope and confidence for people. It also would be a help to the Government in the difficulties it faces in drafting a budget for next week. Will the Taoiseach respond to our invitation that he, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, discuss Fine Gael's proposals with myself and Deputy Bruton? Will he respond, in a positive and constructive fashion, if the Government wishes to adopt these proposals, which we consider well-costed, relevant and capable of creating 100,000 jobs?

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