Gormley draws line between two kinds of taxes

GREEN TAXATION:BUDGETARY MEASURES aimed at raising revenue as opposed to changing behaviour should not be labelled "green taxation", Minister for the Environment John Gormley has said.

He also insisted the budget would undoubtedly bear the fingerprints of the Green Party. "It's very important when you're looking at taxation that we understand what green taxation is and what isn't green taxation. I'm very explicit and I always have been about what is revenue-raising and what is green taxation and the two can be distinct elements," he said.

Mr Gormley said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan had done a very good job and had listened to the concerns of all the political parties in Government.

"Obviously we are in Government and there are aspects of the budget that will undoubtedly bear the fingerprints of the Green Party.

"That's a good thing and that's the way it has to be if we are to really examine the issues of ecology and sustainability. That's what we're in government about, and particularly if we are going to tackle the major issue, and that is climate change."

Asked about the possibility of ministerial paycuts, he said: "I've seen all the speculation and it is just that.

"I really don't know where a lot of this comes from. Some of it may be substantive and some of it may not. But there is a lot of it that I just, I look at that in amazement, I have to tell you."

The Minister was speaking ahead of the Union of Capitals of Europe conference in the Mansion House, Dublin.

He said the budget would be "balanced" but the unprecedented economic situation meant difficult decisions had to be made. Those who could afford to would pay more, he said.

Vulnerable people would be protected. "That has always been the intention. That we are in, all of us, this together, and the vulnerable have to be protected and that we can . . . ensure that those who can best afford it will pay more."