Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I do not believe that is the issue that arises in this dispute. It is a question of 7.7 million hours not being worked. The introduction of a 35 hour week must be examined on a cost neutral basis. Otherwise, this would be seen as a straight pay increase which would have a knock-on effect for 350,000 public servants and the private sector. I do not believe that is what Deputy Rabbitte is advocating. This must be worked out and framed in a manner that meets the interests of the three nursing groups. That is not an easy task. Both sides are conscious of this and of the work and detailed preparation involved in moving to a 35 hour week. It was in this regard the Government offered to move towards the first reduction at the beginning of 2008 and then to work out the more detailed arrangements of moving from a 39 to 35 hour week. A complication arises in that if this is not done on a cost neutral basis, trade unions in the health service generally and outside of it have made it clear they will seek parity in terms of a 35 hour week. Other European countries which have introduced a 35 hour working week are arguing for the opposite claiming it is damaging their economies, and I do not believe it is the right way to go. We are trying to find a basis to do this within the agreement which does not breach the agreement or create a knock-on effect but which can facilitate nurses. However, this must be worked out between the management side of the trade unions and the State which have been engaged in this preparatory work during the past few weeks.

FÁS and BIM are not being forced to move out of the city. Painstaking negotiations have taken place to facilitate people who wish to move within the wider public and Civil Service and to accommodate those who do not want to move. That is why the decentralisation process has been so slow. If it were forced, staff would have moved a long time ago. Staff are not being forced to move.

On inflation, our interest rates are the same as those across Europe. Unfortunately, our gas and oil prices are not. It has been clearly pointed out by the regulator that we are at the end of the pipeline and our costs carry a premium. That is a major difficulty for an island that does not have a very large market. That point has been made time and again. I drew attention earlier to the fact inflation in consumer services was running at 9.3% per annum in March compared to only 0.4% in consumer goods. One does not need to be an expert to see that the difficulty is there is not enough competition in the services sector. That is what is driving inflation in Ireland compared to other countries. There is a very simple European Commission chart that shows where we are out of line. The issue is one of competition. In the consumer goods sector, right across a range of products, the rate of inflation was only 0.4%, which is very creditable compared with our European partners. In the services sector, however, inflation has risen to almost 10%. It is a question of competition which is an issue for all of us because it affects our purchasing power. It is an issue with which we must continue to deal.

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