Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

It is not different. It is the same thing. It is bullying.

Let me deal with the basic issue, which is a simple one. The way we avoid having huge pensions in the future is to base them on a career average so that one's pension is not related to one's final salary. That is the basic model. What happened in the past will not, therefore, be replicated. In that context, plonking in a monetary value is meaningless. It is doubly meaningless when we have no idea what the value of €60,000 will be when pensions become available to the people to whom this scheme will apply and who will not accrue a pension entitlement for decades hence. Who knows what the value of €60,000 will be in 40 years' time? I have to agree with Senator Byrne. The purpose of the Sinn Féin amendment is to make political capital for today.

When the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2010 was brought in, it was estimated that 1% of pensions were in excess of €60,000. Only a tiny portion would be anything more than that. The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2012, which I introduced myself, increased the levy on such pensions so that the current marginal tax rate on pensions over €100,000 is 68%. When we talk about an additional €10,000, we must bear in mind that 68% of it will be taxed, taking into account income tax of 41%, the universal social charge at 7% and the pension reduction of 20%. The net income, therefore, is significantly less than the headline figures would suggest.

As I said in the other House, there is a case to be made in regard to pension caps in the public sector. In fact, the programme for Government includes a commitment in this regard. I have no difficulty with anybody seeking to purchase an enhanced pension, but the public purse should not be expected to contribute to that beyond the threshold. Work in this regard is being undertaken by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, and the OECD is reviewing it as a particular job of work. It is a matter for another day and the Minister will no doubt bring forward concrete proposals in due course. In the context of the particular scheme we are discussing, the architecture we have agreed includes a very fair pattern of accrual of pension into the future.