Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Whole-time equivalents in the public sector have dropped by 10,000 from 319,000 in January 2008 to 309,000 in mid-September 2010. Under the Croke Park agreement, if fully implemented, it is estimated there will be a net reduction of 13,000 people in the public sector by the end of 2014.

The Labour Party proposes a strategic investment bank capitalised by €2 billion from the National Pensions Reserve Fund. The model of that bank is based on a German bank which was described in the German media as Germany's dumbest bank.

See this speech in context