Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not get into petty arguments about politicians' wages and so on. Politicians' wages are linked to Civil Service grades and the cuts were implemented across the board. The reason they are linked is so that it is not our decision. That is how it is and most people agree with that process. Deputy Barry might not but this is not the place to deal with that. I have already said that the budget in this area was cut by too much. Every Department was cut and many programmes were slashed by the same percentage. I do not have the percentage of every budget cut in every Department across the board. I am saying they were cut too much. The reason we are here is to ensure that if the money is put back in, we can ensure it is spent. If Deputy Barry wants a history lesson, that is grand, and we can do it another day. I am focused, however, on how we spend money in the future and how we make the changes.