John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the call by Senator Kelly for the Minister for Finance to examine all possible ways of dealing with the scandalous issue of pensions in the banks and other areas where public money is spent. The frustration felt by a considerable number of people has been neatly summed up in the contributions from Senators O'Donnell and Whelan.

When I was watching one of the American network channels the other evening, I saw the economist and chat show presenter Max Keiser holding up the front page of last weekend's Sunday Independent. He ridiculed the Minister on an American network for claiming to be powerless to do anything about these pensions. I wondered how the founder of the Labour Party, James Connolly, would have reacted if it was suggested to him when he was leading the Irish Citizen Army down to the GPO on the morning of Easter Monday 1916 that he was powerless to do anything about an issue like this. What would we be looking at now if that attitude had been accepted by James Connolly or by Michael Collins, who is an icon of the Minister's party? We have been presented with the idea that a constitutional impediment is protecting the property rights of those receiving these pensions, but of course there are many other things we can do. For example, Senator Kelly has suggested that we introduce a surcharge or tax on these pensions.

This is one of the most pressing issues we face. We are at a critical period in our history. There is a grave danger that a great number of Irish citizens will disconnect from the State. Perhaps we saw the beginnings of this in the response to the collection of the property charge, or in the reaction of many people last week to the imprisonment of Seán Quinn. They can be seen as an indication of people's perception of the legitimacy of the State. I do not think we help ourselves, as a Government, when we say we are powerless to take action in the face of this grave social injustice. I am calling on the Leader to facilitate the request that has been made by Senator Kelly. I would like him to bring the Minister for Finance to this Chamber to shed further light on his comments of last week.