Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I wish to share time with Senators McFadden and Fitzgerald. The so-called pension levy is clearly unfair. It is targeted at one group of workers in our economy only. It does not target the people who caused the problems or those who benefited most from the Celtic tiger area. It will hurt people on low to middle incomes who can ill-afford to pay, yet it does not target the wealthiest in our society. For example, medical professionals, many of whom are among the wealthiest in our society and can charge what they like, are not being asked to contribute. A friend of mine who attends a private consultant for a debilitating condition recently found the fee for a follow up visit had increased from €100 to €150, a 50% increase.

RTE celebrities and bankers and developers are not being asked to pay the levy. It is justified by Government spokespersons on the basis that public servants have great pensions for which they do not pay and they are guaranteed jobs for life, while private sectors workers are losing their jobs. However, many public servants such as those working for local authorities and the Health Service Executive in lower grades have dreadful pensions. The levy pits one group of workers against another. I agree with Senator Harris that we need to pull all sectors of the economy and society together in the effort. People are willing to play their part but there is no fairness in this measure. The levy does not bring the people together with a sense of solidarity and it represents a missed opportunity in that regard. If people could see all sectors of the economy were sharing the burden, they would accept and play their part.

The Labour Party is opposed to this measure not because of an association with, or loyalty to, the public service or the unions but because of its inherent unfairness. While workers in the private sector have lost their jobs, not everyone has and many are in secure and well-paid employment an are not being asked to contribute, which is clearly unfair. I am amazed that despite this obvious unfairness, the Government continues to argue otherwise and I have heard more of the same from many Members on the Government side in this debate. The lack of logic in this matter is baffling. The leader of the Labour Party stated earlier that our party would facilitate the bringing forward of a budget, if required, to introduce fairer measures. The Minister should do what needs to be done and introduce hard measures. However, he should make them fair. Let us do this together.