Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I do not disagree with the sentiments expressed by Deputy Tom Hayes about the quality of our public service. However, I disagree with him on some other parts of his analysis. I have spent all of my adult life either working in public administration, lecturing on it or dealing with civil servants. There are high standards in our public service. That is why most of the recent debate has been quite hateful in its orientation and in the attempts to create a divide between the public and private sector.

The economic reality, however, is very different. The Exchequer deficit to November was just over €22 billion when last year it was under €7.9 billion. The tax take of €30.8 billion was almost €1.36 billion under target. Income tax receipts were €575 million behind budget expectations. We are borrowing at an unsustainable rate to fund current services. A high proportion of the funding from borrowing is public sector pay. At the end of December 2007 our national debt stood at €38 billion; this year it will be twice that.

The cost of servicing our debt rose from €1.6 billion last November to €2.7 billion for the first 11 months of 2009. Every extra €1 billion spent servicing the debt is the equivalent of 21,000 teachers' salaries or a 6% cut in social welfare. We must make the right decisions now.

All the major political parties agree with the Government that the size of the adjustment to be achieved must be between €4 billion and €4.3 billion. However, all differ sharply on how it can be achieved. Fine Gael wants headline salary cuts in the public service, a move I acknowledge as being courageous for an Opposition party.

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