Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I am not in the position to ditch a pension levy that brings in the sort of money it does, given the importance of the changes we have made in the budget. We are not in a position to say that was required in January and not in March. There would be no credibility to that position. I have also said of course that an argument can be made for its introduction. While I recognise it is an imposition, I also recognise that the premium on job security is one that is important in the context of people in other sectors who, unfortunately, are vulnerable to losing their jobs, if they have not already done so.

On the question of active labour market policies, in the late 1980s and 1990s, when this issue previously arose, there was ongoing discussion in regard to the rolling out of active labour policies in response to emerging issues. We tried to design policies and approaches that would support those out of work or seeking upskilling in order to get back into the market by having active labour market policies that were effective, efficient and avoided dead weight issues. In the current context, we must contend with State aid issues when seeking to provide assistance to companies in the marketplace who are competing with others who do not have access to the same support. These are issues we must tease out and work through as best we can. The issues of flexicurity, a term used in this area, and active labour market policies will continue to be examined and rolled out as best we can in the context of what we can do.

I make the point that there are more than 128,000 job and work experience places, not all of which are annualised. As such there is a greater throughput than 128,000 people per year. Many thousands of people come through these schemes, some of which last for ten weeks and others for 20 weeks. A plethora of training schemes are in place for the purpose of assisting people in the training and work experience areas. We expanded the schemes as a result of the social dialogue that had taken place on the last budget. Even allowing for the considerable financial constraints on us and the need to cut expenditure, we expanded the number of places by almost 25,000.

Of course I am au fait with the ten point plan. I have studied it and discussed it at length. With regard to home repossession, through the statutory code of conduct for lenders and the conditions attached to recapitalisation of the main banks, we have gone a substantial way towards providing assurance to those who lose their jobs in terms of the position of their mortgages. We are making substantial resources available through the supplementary welfare allowance system to support the cost of mortgage repayments for those who are unemployed. Thankfully, the reality is that repossession here remains a relatively rare occurrence in comparison with what has happened in other countries. We share the objective of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to ensure that the position remains that way where people are making a real effort to restructure and meet their mortgage commitments with the support of State services and benefits.

On employment and support for the unemployed, we have taken steps in the budget to provide resources to support companies which are viable but vulnerable and into expanding and widening the range of options available to those who have lost their jobs. We are fully committed to using available resources as creatively and flexibly as possible to support jobs rather than having to meet the needs of those who lose jobs. This is a shared objective that can be advanced. I believe there is further worthwhile discussion and engagement to be had on that vital topic.

I believe that answers the specific questions raised.

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