Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to support the amendments, both of which have the same effect by providing for a sunset clause. I echo the comments of Senators Twomey and White. The Government refers to the Bill as an emergency measure, which is not a tax. However, this comes down to honesty. If the Government parties want to be honest, it would be more honest and straightforward to raise taxes. Instead, the measure is presented to us as an emergency levy and, therefore, something that will not be permanent, yet when the Opposition seeks to insert a clause seeking to provide for it to be temporary, that is apparently opposed by the Government.

The difficulty is the Government's attitude to this has contributed to uncertainty among the public, which was exemplified in today's opinion poll. The crisis in confidence is contributing to the poor state of the public finances because when there is a lack of public confidence, people are much more reluctant to spend and, for example, enter contracts for the sale of houses and so on, and this is having a spiralling, knock-on effect on the likelihood of an economic recovery, which is serious. We need an indication from the Government about what the package of measures will be, of which this legislation is apparently only part.

As I said on Second Stage, I approve, in principle, of the need for a payment by higher paid public sector workers, given that we have tenure of employment and a better pension. The key to imposing such a levy is the need to be seen to be equitable and not to scapegoat, but public servants feel they have been scapegoated. The Government has clearly attempted to drive a wedge between the public and private sectors and that has been resisted. Last weekend's march brought out people from both sectors. They also rightly object to the inequitable application of this measure. I examined the Minister of State's figure carefully and although the percentage levy on low incomes is lower, it will still impact more heavily on those earning less. A firefighter, a nurse or a civil servant in an entry grade will feel the impact of the levy more heavily than those of us on higher pay in the public sector.