Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Despite all the points the Minister has raised, the fact remains that it is a 1% increase for a nurse and a 40% increase for the Secretary General of the Department of Health. I do not think this is a position the majority of ordinary people would support. In fact, a significant number of them would share my view that it is outrageous. I also think the Tánaiste is correct that, as night follows day, there will be knock-on pay increase demands from senior civil servants. The Minister conceded that this could be the case. I would go further and state that it almost certainly will be the case. The Director General of the World Health Organization is on €199,000 a year while the Secretary General of the Irish Republic's Department of Health is on €292,000, which is €93,000 more. The Minister can make all the points he wishes about filling the position but an ordinary person looking at that will say it is bizarre and outrageous.

In the context of the public sector pay deal, many workers have been on the front line of the Covid crisis and have put their health and lives on the line in some cases. Our public sector workers are worth a lot more than 1%. They are doing phenomenal work. They do not need phenomenal pay increases. They need real, genuine good decent pay increases-----