Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I completely disagree with the Deputy on that point. We went through a period where 500 secondary schools were closed. The Deputy welcomed the action that led to their closure. The reason the schools were closed was because the Government did not want to make agreements on public pay outside the Lansdowne Road agreement. The Deputy wants immediate restoration of public pay with the improvement of public services. The journey and the challenges we have ahead of us on public pay are considerable. If we had not made the adjustments we made today, those challenges would be even greater.