Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned the industrial disputes, two of which have been headed off at the pass and one which I understand is on its way to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. We obviously wish everybody well with that. The settlement of those disputes is not without cost, since the Estimates were produced and the disputes were settled. Where did we get the wriggle room from in terms of being able to settle? The settlement with the doctors is fairly substantial, as I understand it. It is the living out allowance, which I think is in or around €3,000 per person. The SIPTU settlement is obviously more complicated because it is a longer-term solution and involves making good commitments that should have been costed. These commitments were given, but it was regrettable that the staff had to ballot to get it. However, they got it and that is good news.

I wish to talk about flexibility. I am in the Chairman's hands if I am jumping around too much between issues. Since the salaries were mentioned, and in terms of the flexibilities that exist, where would I find that in the mass of paperwork that I was given?