Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the number of people earning under €30,000 and under €100,000. It is important to correct the information presented in this House. It is not the case that hundreds are on large salaries; thousands are on large salaries. Some 15,000 public sector workers earn over €100,000 per annum. Some are earning up to €500,000 and it is scandalous that we decide not to reduce significantly those incomes at a time when we target a 5% reduction in incomes under €20,000.

It is incorrect to say there is no way we can achieve €1.3 billion in savings. I have articulated this in the Seanad. We may disagree on the methods and Fianna Fáil may feel that we should attack low-income earners. That is Fianna Fáil policy but I completely and utterly disagree with it. The Minister and the Government have proposals costed by the Department of Finance that could be implemented tomorrow morning. These would make the same savings. It is disingenuous and misleading to say there is no other way of making the savings. Other proposals have been made but the ideology of the Government parties means they do not want to tax the wealth. They do not want to introduce a wealth tax, nor do they want to standardise discretionary tax reliefs or introduce a third rate of tax. They want to cut the incomes of over 20,000 public sector workers in Donegal who work in our schools, hospitals and public services and attack their wages, which damages the local economy instead of taxing the wealthy. It is disingenuous to say there are no other proposals, as it is disingenuous to say there are only hundreds of high earners in the public sector when there are thousands. I am not only talking about salaries but also the massive bonuses paid to those such as Professor Brendan Drumm of the HSE, who received €70,000. This is like water off a duck's back. Like everything in the budget, the Government is targeting the lowest incomes in society.