Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Ultimately, what we are working on is a framework of money. As long as the public pay bill is reduced to the volume we have agreed, it does not get into the minutia of that but it looks at public sector productivity and lack of disruption here in comparison to national strikes in Greece, Portugal, Spain and even in more recent times in Belgium and France. We have industrial peace which not only allows public services to be delivered to people who need them - our education and health systems and so on are not disrupted - but it also gives a calm backdrop for external investors in Ireland. We are top of the list in terms of foreign direct investment in recent times. I can tell the committee that is very much on stream with some significant announcements to come.