Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I ask the Tánaiste to convey my thanks to the Taoiseach for writing to me today in response to the questions I asked him yesterday and the day before about the cost of the deal that was done with senior public servants to exempt them from the full effect of the pay cuts. In the letter, which was hand-delivered to me this morning, the Taoiseach informed me that approximately 655 public servants, including 157 assistant secretaries and deputy secretaries in the Civil Service, are encompassed in the pay adjustment. The Taoiseach's response also stated that the cost of this adjustment is less than €5 million. Perhaps the Taoiseach will give me the exact figure at a reasonably early stage, when it is available to him. I would be surprised if the use of the phrase "less than €5 million" was somehow intended to convey the idea that it is not a huge amount, as it is clear that the Government is looking for savings of that nature. I remind the House that the Minister for Education and Science intends to abolish the NUI and estimates that €1 million will be saved as a result. I doubt if that will be the case, given the cost of rebranding NUI Maynooth and NUI Galway. At a time when the Government is looking for savings of that order, this €5 million adjustment is not that insignificant. Perhaps I will be given the full figure.

Second, I note on the Government's list of legislation that it intends to publish another social welfare Bill this year. The Government rushed the Social Welfare and Pensions (No. 2) Bill 2009 through the Dáil just before Christmas by guillotining it. That Bill gave effect to the social welfare cuts that were announced on budget day. Do I take it from the promise to introduce a further social welfare Bill that the Government is planning a second round of social welfare cuts later this year?

Third, the Tánaiste will have noticed in the last day or two the announcement that Carluccio's restaurant on Dawson Street, which is quite close to Leinster House, is to close with a loss of 60 jobs. This successful business is closing because it cannot secure a downward revision of the rent arrangement into which it entered during the boom times. A Private Members' Bill produced by Deputy Ciarán Lynch, which is on the Order Paper, is designed to allow for downward reductions of commercial rents. Will the Government accept that Bill? It is scandalous that 60 jobs will have to be lost from an entirely successful business in the middle of the city. I accept that other businesses are in the same position. Although the restaurant is full every time I go there, it is closing because it cannot get a downward rent review.

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