Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Clearly, in light of what the Secretary General is telling us this morning and in light of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, there may be a major challenge in the context of any second Croke Park agreement. Yesterday, I listened with interest to an interview with a leading industrial relations journalist who described the Croke Park agreement as probably being the most elaborate industrial relations agreement in the history of the State. These words also could be attributed to Kieran Mulvey of the Labour Relations Commission, LRC. It is a hugely complex set of arrangements to be considered by trade union members. If the Department experienced difficulties regarding what was, generally speaking, quite a small adjustment, and if the Croke Park extension agreement is adopted and agreed by the trade unions, can one have confidence that the Department will be able to deal with the complexities that inevitably will arise in respect of staff members who will experience a step back in terms of increments or those who will now have 15 month increment periods, as well as all the different propositions under the second Croke Park agreement? Is the Secretary General confident this can be dealt with? It will be a monumental task.