Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There is sufficient being said about it for me to be able to clarify the position. The level of savings that we seek to obtain remains of the order of €1.3 billion in terms of a reduction between the cost of the public service pay bill this year compared to next year. That remains our position and we wish to discuss with the trade unions on that basis. Those discussions are not complete. As I stated, proposals still must be discussed and developed. However, I made clear what the Government's position is and we reserve our position until we see if we can find an agreement. Otherwise, we must consider other options.

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