David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 25, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:

'Green Fund' is a guaranteed and interest bearing fund to be established by the government to promote energy efficiency and create jobs;".

Amendments Nos. 9 and 10 are grouped so I will speak to both of them. They provide for investment in reliable investments such as Government bonds, which is useful for pension funds and would also aid Ireland. That is the way it should be but instead much of the capital in pension funds is being lost to us. It goes abroad into other types of investment, including into foreign government bonds. The Minister would agree with the logic of what is proposed, namely, that we force or encourage pension funds to invest some of the huge amounts of money they invest every year into actions that will create jobs in this country. We proposed this in our pre-budget submission and it was also put forward by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in its pre-budget submission last year. It makes perfect sense.

The pensions component of this Bill is of value and I support the main objective of this section. It is good that the Government recognises the need for legislation to promote greater prudence on the part of pension schemes. However, we are missing an opportunity in this Bill in terms of encouraging some of the funds to invest in Ireland and its economic recovery. That is not guaranteed in this section. Irish pension funds fell much further than those of other countries, largely because they invested so disproportionately in equities. Those funds are still being invested disproportionately in equities. This Bill should have been used to channel Irish private sector pension funds, which are currently estimated by the Irish Brokers Association to be of the value of €80 billion, into more specific strategic and employment intensive investment initiatives in Ireland. We propose that 7% of that should be invested in job creation and investment ideas. It would make perfect sense.

I referred to our pre-budget submission. In that we recommended that €5 billion from the funds be invested in a housing energy retrofit programme, which could create up to 50,000 jobs. The Labour Party's election manifesto also referred to retrofitting and said that investment in this area would be an incentive and opportunity to kick-start economic growth and get people back to work. It would act as a stimulus. We are told that what this country most needs at present is a stimulus for jobs and investment, and creative ways to use whatever funds that might be available to create jobs. This is an area the Government should consider.

I do not believe the Minister will accept the amendments today but I hope she will examine the sentiment expressed in them and explore the possibilities that might exist for next year. Sinn Féin has consistently argued since 2009 that the State needs a stimulus and more State investment to create jobs. It is difficult in the current climate to find the necessary funds to fund a stimulus, so we must be creative and think outside the box. Compelling some of these companies to use some of their funds for investment in Ireland is a logical step to take. I hope this is something the Minister and the Government will consider. I would like her to accept the amendments but similar amendments were not accepted in the Dáil, so I assume they will not be accepted today. However, I hope the Minister will at least accept the sentiment behind the amendments. Is it something the Government will consider in the context of next year's budget?