Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I support Deputy Broughan's amendment. The Government may try to attach the pension levy to other measures they think the public might want or support, but in reality it is just an austerity grab and an attack on pensioners. Now the promise that this austerity grab, which fuelled such anger among pensioners, would end at a certain point has been broken. That is fairly typical of what goes on. When unjust measures such as this levy are introduced, the Government becomes addicted to the money raised and the likelihood that the measures will ever be gotten rid of sinks further into the distance. This is all the more obnoxious because it is just another outworking of the bailout of bondholders and banks.

I had a debate on this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, on the radio. One must examine the different approaches within this Bill. It gives new tax breaks for trading in securities and shares, for example, and further tax breaks to property speculators in the form of elaborate real estate investment trusts.

The more I look into them, the more alarmed I become because this is the new mechanism to encourage speculation in a property boom. These guys are being looked after, encouraged and incentivised to do things that will destabilise the economy, while we continue the raid on smaller pensions.

Pension provision is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Just like the argument I made yesterday about health insurance, private pension schemes are unstable, subject to the whims of the market. One should note the connection. We let the speculators off the leash and they become the people who actually control the value of pensions. As the market goes up and down, so too do the values of pensions in a dangerous way.

As has been suggested by several people, we should treble the State pension, making it an attractive and viable option for ordinary people, while, at the same time, doing away with all of the subsidies we give to the private pension business. Meanwhile, the Government is hitting those who have made understandable provision for their old age and has raided them in a nasty way. I oppose the continuation of the levy and the breach of promise it involves.

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