Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Now the troika is being blamed for the PRSI increase; it was forced upon the Government. That must be what the Minister is telling the Labour Party backbenchers to make them accept this.

The Irish League of Credit Unions offered the Government €5 billion for investment but the Government would not take it. There are other lenders that could be tapped into. The social insurance fund is in deficit and in a recession it should be, while in good times it should be built up again. We have been funding the social insurance fund through the recession from Government revenue. Does the Minister think it is fair to tell people on €18,000 per year that they should lose €264 from their wages and that it is balanced by charging PRSI on those with high incomes? The Labour Party tried to have the universal social charge increased but it lost that battle with Fine Gael and now it is introducing this PRSI increase. The Labour Party should have refused unless one was done in exchange for the other. It could not even manage that. There is no fairness in this budget for the low paid and all the other items people have identified today. How can the Minister still claim that is a reasonable outcome?

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