Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I do not agree with the Deputy's contentions or theories on this matter. The Government entered this process in good faith, knowing it was difficult for all sides to try to find a common agreement on the issue. On the issue the Deputy raises, the Government considered its position on Tuesday morning and conveyed what its position was. It confirmed that the amounts that were contemplated as savings by the proposal, as developed on Tuesday morning and put to the Government by the trade unions, were not sufficient to meet the requirements of the situation. This message was conveyed as was the message that our position was also reserved on all other aspects of the proposal.

The Government was prepared, and the unions were anxious, to seek to develop the proposal and it was right and proper that we would do so. Unfortunately, despite the good work being done in sectoral discussions the following day, the State must not only act as employer because the need for wide public acceptance of any proposal to come forward is also an important factor.

The issue relating to the unpaid leave aspect of the proposal arose because of the very restrictive mandate the unions had to contend with. In other words, they did not have a mandate to negotiate a pay cut. This issue was linked, therefore, to a proposal on a deduction in pay to be compensated for by subsequent unpaid leave days, albeit further negotiated over a longer period subsequently. This formed a consensus in the union approach in terms of how the unions would negotiate and could not be broken or de-linked. In addition to the inability to identify post-2010 savings that were adequate to meet the requirements of the situation, there were factors which meant that the certainty and permanence required did not eventually evolve.

Despite comments made during the course of the week, I do not believe there was any bad faith on any side in relation to the efforts that were made. Good efforts were made and good work was done. While it is regrettable that agreement was not possible, there have still been strategic gains from the work that was conducted and we will have to revert to these sooner rather than later. I understand, however, the level of disappointment there may be about the outcome.

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