Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

We are not suggesting that there be a different type of social partnership. We are trying to provide agreement on the issues of concern that have been raised by the social partners. In the event of it being impossible to find an agreement, we still need structures of social dialogue in place. There are structures that will continue to be utilised with or without an agreement. We have a ten year framework agreement, Towards 2016, which informs many of the policy options that the Government must consider in any event. The national implementation body, NESC and the steering committee of the ten year framework agreement would continue to be in place regardless. We are working to see if an agreement can be reached, but it is not a question of everything collapsing and there being no dialogue between us. Those avenues for dialogue must continue to be available, as we all try to manage our jobs and responsibilities.

It has been a feature of banking for many years that the local bank manager has had less discretion than traditionally would have been the case ten, 15 or 20 years ago. In the current financial crisis, there has probably been a greater degree of oversight and monitoring from the centre into the branch system. I am as well aware as any other Deputy in the House of the difficulties in which some businesses find themselves due to this crisis. We are in the process of a recapitalisation programme, including EGMs and all the necessary legal steps that must be taken, so that these funds can be made available. They are being made available on the basis of warrants and on the basis of a return to the taxpayer. The suggestion that this is simply bailing out banks unconditionally is not true. There are conditions attached to these recapitalisation programmes.

The Government and public service employers must obtain agreements on redeployment to areas of greatest need. This flexibility in the workplace is needed, given the scarcity of resources available to the Government and the need to utilise those resources to their optimum. Good industrial relations practice would require that these issues need to be addressed. The issues relating to public service numbers, such as early retirement or temporary leave, must all be worked through the normal industrial relations process. There are several issues that are still part of the discussions on which we would like to see some finality.

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