Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

----- sought to cut €2 from the contributory old age pension, I would vote for it because, on balance, that might make it a little easier for some of the more vulnerable, as those who are also vulnerable, albeit slightly less so, might be able to take a small hit. However, no such amendments have been tabled; there is only opposition to the proposals.

Let us now look at the opposition to section 3 and other sections. Sinn Féin says its budget would make savings of €4.5 billion, but I disagree with its analysis and its target figures. Notwithstanding that, I believe Sinn Féin is being true to itself in its opposition. It is a similar case with the Labour Party, which has stated that it would increase income tax and reduce tax on welfare. As part of the Government, the Green Party shares collective responsibility, but if it was in Government alone, the Green Party would have increased the tax element. However, as part of a collective Government, we must operate within its confines. We would not go as far as the Labour Party proposals. However, there is validity in the reason behind the Labour Party's opposition to this section, although it would not want to oppose it in full because while it does not agree with cutting welfare, it would make the cuts somewhere else. Therefore, we can see the logic of its opposition.

The opposition of Fine Gael to this section, however, makes no sense. It did not table any amendments, but seems to be surfing the wave of popular indignation rather than making an attempt to try to bridge the €6 billion gap. The Fine Gael leader and Fine Gael finance spokesperson have consistently said that we should keep taxes low. The difficulty is that if it was to do the opposite of what the Labour Party suggests and keep taxes low, it would have to cut more, including the biggest spending Departments, one of which is the Department of Social Protection. Therefore, there must be cuts in social welfare. The question then is whether those cuts should be to carers' allowances, blind people's pensions, old age pensions or long-term unemployment allowances. Someone must suffer. While I disagree that the very vulnerable should take the brunt, I feel an effort was made to try and make the cuts as equal as possible. I have already commented on why all of the parties said they would not touch the old age pension.

Given this Bill is being opposed rather than amended in any way, the consequence of voting it down would bring down the budget and speed up the departure of the Government. While that might seem logical to the Opposition, it would not be logical in the context of the bailout, the four year plan or investor confidence in the country. I was reading a blog put up by Ronan Lyons recently which did an analysis of the budget in which he pointed out that a person on €100,000 would be hit for five times as much as a person on €20,000, although perhaps it should be six or seven times as much.

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