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

Of 22 amendments tabled, 14 have been ruled out of order as, I presume, they might constitute a charge on the Exchequer. It is hugely problematic for Deputies when their amendment is ruled out on that basis. It neuters the debate, especially when one is discussing legislation such as this which is all about pay rates and the restoration of pay and which, by definition, cannot be fully debated or thrashed out without arguing the toss as to the level of the charge on the Exchequer and where Exchequer moneys should go and be best targeted.

My view may be somewhat different from the standard view but I believe there is still a financial emergency and it is felt not least in many of the households of public servants on lower pay who were pickpocketed in the course of the recession. Whatever about the grand rhetoric about recovery, the recovery has not yet come to those households. It is welcome that there is partial pay restoration for those workers but I do not think it goes far enough. The aspect of the legislation that troubles me most is the fact that the Minister is carrying out a sleight of hand. All of the rhetoric has been about restoration for people on lower pay, namely, those earning up to €65,000 but, while there is partial restoration of pay for those earning under the €65,000 benchmark, once one goes over that figure a full restoration of pay is envisaged on a tranche-by-tranche basis. I have an issue with that as it is demonstrably unfair. The Minister cannot have it both ways. He cannot argue that he is looking after lower paid workers by giving them something which, while welcome, does not nearly undo the damage to their take-home pay or living standards while, at the same time, legislating for full pay restoration for those with pay in excess of €110,000. I grant that only a very small proportion of people in the public service earn such a salary but many of those people are overpaid and overpensioned.

Despite the Minister's argument of fairness there is a glaring lack of fairness at the heart of this legislation. I am happy that at least some of my amendments made it through the process and we will get to debate those in more detail. The Minister cannot pretend that his concern is to look after lower paid public servants by giving them some crumbs from the rich man's table while fully restoring higher incomes, which are the only levels of income that have been fully restored. That is wrong and I have tabled amendments to remedy that in this legislation.