Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

Is dona liom on briseadh seo. Let me say that what has been done has been reasonable, has been fair, is constitutionally correct and is an acknowledgement that the Government wants to be fair to the public service, recognising the role of public servants in society, their contribution to the country, their requirement that they, like all of us as parliamentarians and politicians, ensure that we give the best value for money taking into account the resources that the people of Ireland can afford to give us through revenue inflows into the Exchequer at any particular time, and that we must be fair to everybody. The Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has done an outstanding job in sustaining that fairness and that equity, and I fully endorse this amendment.

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