Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Some 80% of Irish defined benefit schemes are in deficit and hundreds of thousands of workers are members of these schemes. The Taoiseach and the Government were advised in advance that the 0.6% pension levy would have a very negative impact on pensioners. Specifically, the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform were advised that the levy "is coming at the worst possible time as employers and employees do not have the resources to make additional contributions." The Pensions Board stated it would make existing difficulties even worse. The sum of €470 million that will be raised per annum will not even be used for the purposes of the jobs initiative. In essence, in the next four years more than €1.8 billion will be taken from pensioners in order to pay the levy. There were further warnings given to the Taoiseach that it would lead to the creation of a funding cliff at the end of the four year period. On "Prime Time" last night the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, admitted that "she was not a big fan of the proposal." I would like to know what that means. Against all advice, the Government decided to plough on regardless. The concerns of individual pensioners were dismissed in the House and the decision is already hitting thousands of elderly persons living on modest pensions from schemes into which they paid from their own earnings.

I mentioned previously in the House the workers at Tara Mines to illustrate the impact on pensions. In recent days I read correspondence from the Retired Aviation Staff Association which had been sent to the Taoiseach and the Government and the correspondence it had received from its trustees who said they were likely to be hit directly by the levy. These are pensioners of Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority and their pension schemes will be hit during the four year period to the tune of €30 million.

Given all the advice received and the distressed nature of the pensions industry, why did the Taoiseach decide to introduce the pension levy? Why did he decide specifically to hit pensioners because the impact was to reduce their benefits? It is pensioners who will be hit.

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