THE TAOISEACH defended the public service pension levy when asked by Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin if he would abolish it.

Mr Ó Caoláin said the levy had been correctly described by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as “crude and unfair”.

Brian Cowen said the Government and the unions had disagreed in respect of the levy. It was a necessary part of an adjustment introduced by the Government earlier in the year.

“That adjustment . . . was designed to bring in €2 billion in an effort to ensure that international markets and people at home would recognise the Government’s determination to make decisions that would address what was then a deteriorating position vis-a-vis the public finances.

“The terms and conditions of public service workers, and the question of job security, are important considerations.

“The value of public service pensions, as against depleted pensions in the private sector, which have been adversely affected by the financial crisis, must be seen in the context of fairness. “The proposal in this regard was in keeping with the requirements of the situation and the principles we outlined in the framework document.”

Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said her party had already welcomed the Taoiseach’s “rather belated decision” to write to the unions inviting them to re-enter talks.

She asked if the Taoiseach “would acknowledge that it is not acceptable for Government to arbitrarily breach an agreement that it had freely entered into only a few months earlier?”

She asked if the Taoiseach understood the anger of many public servants, teachers, nurses and gardaí about the arbitrary way the pension levy was imposed at the eleventh hour in the talks.

They contrasted that with Michael Fingleton’s “extraordinary bonus, and his more extraordinary pension”.

Mr Cowen said the levy did not affect existing pensioners. “It was a question of the public service employer looking at the financial situation and finding savings to meet the requirements of the situation.”