Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I reiterate that the Government met as a Government on Tuesday and I communicated thereafter to the trade unions the Government position. The first basic requirement was the quantum, the amount of money that would have been generated by this proposal in the first instance, was insufficient and, therefore, the Government would reserve its position in respect of all other aspects of it because we had not reached that point of the equation. We are all mindful of the work and effort of the people involved. When people say they would like to further develop the proposal to see if it can be moved forward, then we are open to this happening. By having that continuous negotiation and that further discussion over the days, we saw further developments taking place in sectoral discussions which are of benefit and of value and which provide, in my opinion, a basis for moving forward in the required transformation of public services. The intrinsic merit remains. It is also a case of necessity-----

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