Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thought the bonuses were only to be paid in exceptional circumstances. It seems as if they are being paid to more than 600 public servants, according to the latest reports.

I listened to the chief executive officer of the Labour Relations Commission yesterday who believes considerable work must be done by the Government before the unions can sit down again around the table. Approximately 70,000 SIPTU members joined the work to rule yesterday indicating clearly that the Government has lost the trust of public service and the taxpayer in the management of both the economy and the reform of our public services.

The Fine Gael Party has put forward a different approach. We said the Government should give an assurance that there would be no additional pay cuts in the next budget, the work to rule should be called off by the unions and they should accept people who pay their taxes have a right to modern well-run public services. This would allow for a position where negotiations and discussions could begin again. I have said previously those negotiations should begin on the basis that the most recent pay cuts could be reversed over time as new contracts and new work practices in the public service are adopted sector by sector and provided the new contracts deliver better public services and real savings for the public.

I have two questions. First, what is the status of the National Implementation Body, which is chaired by the Taoiseach's Department? Is it meeting? Is it valid? Does it have any status now? If it had, the action taken by the air traffic controllers probably would not have gotten as far as it did. That is a serious and fundamental issue. Second, does the Taoiseach agree the work to rule by the trade unions in the public service should be called off and that he should ask them to do so while also saying clearly that there will be no additional cuts to public service pay in the next budget as a precursor to getting back around the table to discuss where we go from here?

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