Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The proposed public service pension levy is unfair and unbalanced. My party voted against it in the other House. We recognise more than anybody else the need for the €2 billion in savings in current spending in 2009 and we have offered an alternative strategy. However, the Government does not seem to listen to anybody. It will not listen to the Opposition and the social partners, and seems to think it has a monopoly of wisdom on economic affairs. When will the Minister for Finance amend what he proposes in this pension levy to exclude lower paid public servants from it? It is not a question of if but of when he will do it. He will then also have to spell out the proposals of what other economies or cuts will be necessary to make up for that. I hope that next week, when we will discuss this issue, he will amend this unfair levy, especially in the case of lower paid public servants.

On another issue, power companies currently charge consumers for the cost of carbon allowances used in power generation, even though they get these allowances free from the Government. This is not fair. Fine Gael calls again, as it has previously, for a windfall tax to be imposed on power generation, which would raise approximately €300 million. This would certainly help ease the burden in other areas and keep vital services going. Again, this is an area where Fine Gael is making a constructive proposal. It remains to be seen whether the Government will accept the proposal or consign it to the scrap heap, as it has done with all the other suggestions from this party, the Labour Party and other parties and interested bodies. We are offering alternative suggestions daily but the Government is not responding. We hope there will be a definite response next week on this unfair levy. Its unfairness is bringing lower paid workers out on the streets.