Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Minister of State simply does not get the basic point, which is that someone who earns approximately €10,000 is not liable to taxation and, as a consequence, he or she is paying a full gross net 5%. Therefore, the burden of this adjustment and reduction in wages absolutely is borne more heavily by them than by the other categories, who are higher earners and who will have tax allowances deducted and who will, therefore, have a net, as well as a gross, deduction.

I do not know what school the Minister of State has been attending but the budget has an economic effect which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has admitted is highly deflationary. If the Minister of State believes that cutting the wages of the lowest-paid people, such as part-time cleaners, constitutes a major boost to the economy, I assure him it is not. As for part-time contract workers, the Minister of State must have seen the recent coverage in the newspapers of young people getting ready once again to leave this country, together with their qualifications. The stop-gap for the last two years for graduates and others coming out-----

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