Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Doherty is touching on an important point, the principle of a linkage between the retention of the pension levy and the retention of the initiatives announced by the Government, including the VAT reduction. Is the retention of the pension levy for the full four years linked to the retention of the VAT reduction? Is the Minister ruling out using the funds from the pension levy to fund other initiatives? If the Minister decides towards the end of next year that the VAT reduction is not working and abolishes it, will he reduce by a corresponding amount or eliminate the pension levy or is he retaining the right to use the funds that will be raised from the pension levy to fund other initiatives or to contribute towards reducing the deficit? In fairness to Deputy Doherty, there is an important principle.

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