Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Minister with responsibility for public expenditure and reform, Deputy Howlin, in a radio interview this morning in response to an earlier interview I gave, referred to his belief that I did not realise there was such a thing as DIRT tax. The difference, of course, is that DIRT tax is applied to interest earned on savings. It is not a tax on capital, people's savings. To my knowledge, this is the first time a Government has crossed the line and has directly seized part of the savings people have put away to provide for them in later life. Some 2.4% of the pension value will be taken, which is one forthieth of the value of the fund. Therefore, a person who has invested in his or her pension fund for 40 years will, with the stroke of a pen, have seized by the Government one full year of their pension contributions when one strips out inflation and the performance of the fund and so on. I could make many further points but I know Deputy Dooley is most anxious to make a constructive contribution on this issue.

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