Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Stone. Such a division has opened up between incumbents and new entrants in terms of the new pension regime for the public sector. It creates precisely the kind of difficulty Mr. Stone has just described. For those charged not just with managing the force but building morale, and in particular in the kind of climate in which the Garda currently operates, it is most undesirable and unhelpful to have such a differential opening up. I hope that in the privacy of his discussions with the Minister the Commissioner will consider asserting that point because it is entirely lost on the Minister.

I was struck by Mr. Redmond’s initial commentary where he said that the pay cuts for members have been of the magnitude of 20%. I raise the matter because the figure commonly asserted in respect of pay in the public service is 14%. Could he elaborate on the figure of 20% and how he arrived at it?