Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I want to raise two issues. The first is the publication today of the pensions levy legislation, also known as the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill. I appeal to the Leader to call on the Minister for Finance, Deputy Lenihan, to ensure fairness and balance his policy in terms of getting the public finances back under control. The most basic route he could follow is to abandon that legislation, revert to the social partnership talks and have meaningful dialogue with all the social partners so they can find a partnership process to take us out of the current economic difficulties. The pension levy is not the way to go. We are penalising young gardaí, young nurses, young teachers and other people in the public service on lower incomes. As it was put to me last week by somebody working in the HSE, along with his wife, they cannot afford to save €300 a month but will be expected to pay that by virtue of legislation published today. These are good living, hard working, honest people who will have to take decisions to cut back on expenditure that goes towards extra curricular activities for their children. Expecting young, hard working families to make those sacrifices is a huge price to pay for any financial turmoil.

Second, I ask the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey, to make a statement on the oil slick off the south coast. We were told initially over the weekend that 300 tonnes of oil were involved but it now appears it is more than 1,000 tonnes. The predictions by the Coast Guard and international maritime experts that the slick could reach the south coast within two weeks are worrying. It is a major concern for coastal communities that depend on the fishing industry and maritime tourism. I ask the Minister to conduct a risk assessment of the oil slick, ensure adequate resources are made available and that there is ministerial co-operation among colleagues to ensure organisations such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navy, harbour boards, port companies and local authorities are sufficiently equipped and well-informed to deal with this crisis if the need arises.