Mr. Brian Purcell:

It is a valid point. I speak only in terms of the sectors covered by the justice family. It also leads to a situation where, because of the nature of the work, the elements of the public service that would be delivering front-line services, and some of them on a 24-7 basis, get much more in terms of allowances, both numerically and as a percentage of their pay, than perhaps the majority of public servants. I agree with Deputy O'Donnell that, essentially, perhaps one is seeing an unfair focus on the very groups which provide the front-line services. From that point of view, Deputy O'Donnell is probably right that it would be better if there were a much more compact remuneration structure where there was not this plethora of allowances. Even an insider would look at them and scratch his head trying to work out exactly what way the payments are made, who gets them, who is entitled to get them, why someone would get them now and then would not get them, and the complexities that go with it. I think Deputy O'Donnell is right.