Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As I have said, the Government considered the situation last December and, unfortunately, was obliged to take some necessary decisions on cuts in expenditure that included pay levels. We have no desire to go down that route again if we can have engagement on the other issues. There are still savings to be found and efficiencies that have been identified. There are ways forward that improve the position for people in the workplace as well as enabling them to get more from less. There has been much discussion on that; it was one of the benefits of the discussions that did take place, which had an intrinsic merit in their own right. On the basis that we are trying to stabilise the public finances and improve our financial position, we must be able to get more from the limited resources that are available in these areas. We need engagement on these matters.

There are no winners, either in the public service or among citizens, when disputes are escalated. I am simply outlining that the Government had to make decisions that were necessary in the circumstances of the budget. A common agenda can be identified to find improvements in public service provision going forward. We have no desire to go down the route of direct pay cuts again but we need engagement on the other issues. It is vital that happens in order that we can move on to that agenda and approach rather than one where there are industrial relations issues, with all the attendant problems, that do not get us anywhere and that do not meet any aspirations of public servants because we are not in a proper industrial relations relationship that secures positive outcomes.

I have already said the National Implementation Body last met on 19 November. It cannot monitor national agreements, since those do not arise at present, but there is merit in the continuation of such contact between Government, employers and trade unions in industrial relations matters generally.

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