Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

All of these measures will take effect from 1 May 2009. I indicated previously that I was prepared to review the operation of the public service pension levy to address any issues of fairness. Taking account of the impact of the tax measures which I have announced, I am proposing a slight recasting of the structure of the levy to reduce somewhat the impact on the lowest paid public servants with a small increase at the higher levels. The net cost of this is €100 million in 2009.

Excise

From midnight tonight, excise on cigarettes will go up by 25 cent per packet of 20 and on auto-diesel by 5 cent per litre. These excise changes are VAT-inclusive. There is no scope for increases in excise duties on alcohol or petrol because of the substantial risk of loss of revenue by the purchase of these items in Northern Ireland.

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