Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

They were determined based on an exercise of comparison with the private sector. I know from discussions with finance Ministers from other countries that there is grave concern in many European countries about the high levels of remuneration with which senior private executives are awarding themselves. In that context, I agree with the position of the Taoiseach and the Government that we are prepared to review this matter in the context of these discussions, which I do not want to pre-empt. In any event, when participating in discussions of this type, it is not wise to indicate what one will do. One does not go into discussions or negotiations after indicating what one intends to do anyway.

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