Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

They are more than exploratory. Everyone recognises the seriousness of the situation the country is in and the need to make an adjustment. A range of options is being considered and it is not helpful to go into further detail at this stage simply because discussions are under way. Time is short and the Government must see signs of progress this week, given the comparatively short lead-in time to the December budget. That is the position. The purpose of the talks is to explore if the necessary reductions in the public service pay bill can be achieved on an agreed basis.

In fairness to the public sector unions, they suggested they believe there are alternatives to simply looking at pay rate reductions. We were anxious to explore with them how they would see that being implemented given the size of the reduction required. That is being discussed on a without prejudice basis and it would remiss of any Government not to sit down with their employees' representatives in an effort to find a way forward that meets the requirements of the situation and to see if agreement is possible.

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