Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

No, that is not quite the point. However, I will not get into dialogue on it with the Deputy. I simply make the point that it is another problem in his calculation. The Deputy has figured into his calculation a cost of €20 per tonne. The tonnage price has varied dramatically since 2006, when it was €22. It then reduced to €7 per tonne in 2007. Today carbon costs approximately €10 per tonne not the €20 per tonne factored into the calculations.

Tax the rich is another popular view. It is always a good one for a headline. To be fair, it is not the policy being argued by Fine Gael but by the Left. We have a problem in this country in that we have an extremely narrow tax base, in particular in the area of personal taxation. Changes in taxation over the years have been highly progressive. Currently 4% of earners pay 48% of all income tax in this country. Almost 50% of earners pay no income tax and the top marginal rate is now approximately 52%. Those politicians who argue inside and outside this House that somehow or other there is a treasure trove out there to be plucked are not being truthful with themselves, their constituents or the country. The question that must be asked of those who suggest that raising taxes is the way forward is - how sustainable is that proposition? If we cannot raise taxes and cannot increase borrowing we have only two options, namely, cut services or cut the cost of supplying those services. Nobody in this House wants to cut public services any further. This is where the Bill before us comes in.

The highest single element in the cost of public administration is payroll costs, which we all accept. There are only two ways to address payroll costs, namely, let people go or reduce the rate at which staff are paid. That is where we are at the moment. I have never heard a politician argue in this House that we should seek redundancies, in particular involuntary redundancies, in public administration. This is not the time to do so. It is not the proposition that is made. I note that in the Fine Gael document there is a suggestion that 10,000 jobs in the public sector be shed.

See this speech in context