Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 36:

In page 87, to delete lines 14 to 30.

Probably one of the main responses to the budget in our e-mails and other forms of correspondence has concerned this particular provision, which now appears in section 71. I refer to the increase in the pension levy and its extension to 2015. People feel incredibly sore. Members and Oireachtas colleagues bear a special responsibility for people who work in the private sector in the sense that we have access to valuable public sector pensions. People in the private sector – many of us have experience of working in the private sector – feel vulnerable about their pensions. They believe this measure is another whammy. They were obviously very upset when the levy was introduced in 2011 to fund the jobs initiative. That was bad enough and we believed it would end this coming year. Not alone has it not come to an end, it is being extended. People feel this is a breach of faith by the Government.

I am sure Government members have sensed that from correspondence they have received. Our National Pensions Reserve Fund, initiated by a former Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy and supported by the whole House at the time, has been raided and completely diminished following the outrageous and appalling decision to introduce the blanket bank guarantee. That leaves the entire pension structure of the country in a very vulnerable position.

It has been reported that the pension levy could be used to support pension funds which are in difficulty. The levy is aligned with the Bill to be debated later today, the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill. The avalanche of change in the private pension sector recently, with many schemes converting from defined benefit to defined contribution, puts pensioners and those about to retire in a very vulnerable position. They feel their vulnerability is increased by this levy and they also feel very hard done by. For the vast majority of members of both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, it will mean a reduction in their benefits. The extension of the levy to 2015 creates further uncertainty and the fact that pension funds are being put to unintended uses is very regrettable and regressive.

We now have a situation in which private sector pension funds are subject to a wide range of levies, penalties and restrictions, which increases the imbalance between these and public sector pensions. The ideal situation is to achieve certainty, solidity and safety for all workers, in both the private and public sectors, for the future. That has to be the key aim of policy, but this measure is regressive.

Many will look at the Jobs Initiative and ask what it achieved. We have seen the equivalent of a full Aviva stadium of young people leaving for the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the USA in recent years, another legacy of this Government. On that basis, I oppose section 71 of the Bill.

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