Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am determined to maintain pay rates so that we do not lose that.

I will move on and get through everybody's points if possible. A question was asked about side deals done in the Haddington Road process. I am responsible for the formal negotiation of the pay agreement. I negotiated two agreements, namely, the Haddington Road agreement and, latterly, the Lansdowne Road agreement. That is the formal agreement that is endorsed. It is the actual creature of the Labour Relations Commission, which is now the Workplace Relations Commission. It draws up the proposal having negotiated with everybody. It talks to us as employers and the unions and sets the proposals. That is the agreement - nothing else. When all the senior people in administration, the health service, local government, justice and every other area and senior trade union officials are almost captured in a building for weeks on end, although not everybody is involved in direct negotiations at any given time, many bones of contention that have been hanging around for years are resolved through bilateral discussions. It is a case of "Come here 'til I talk to you. This thing is hanging around. Would you settle this?" Matters are settled and then become what is known as a chairman's note. I reach agreement bilaterally with Senator Mooney and the chairman notes it so that it has some authority. I do not have sight of these notes. They are not part of the agreement and are not part of my business. Each Minister is reported to and there have been parliamentary questions to each Minister outlining what are these notes. That is a normal part of the process.

Senator Sheahan talked about maintaining the reforms, which is a really important part of what we need to do today. This is not a black-and-white issue. Several Senators asked whether the emergency continues to obtain. If they ask me whether we can afford to immediately restore €2.2 billion of the FEMPI legislative savings, the answer is an emphatic "No".