Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

People have inquired, in the context of the national recovery plan and the partnership model, whether we should have reappraised the Croke Park agreement, etc. I am of the view that the onus is going to be on management in the public service to ensure that real efficiencies are achieved in order that we will be in a position to do more with less. It may be easier for us to do this in the spirit of co-operation that was evident from people's willingness to sign up to the Croke Park agreement rather than in trying to break down the latter and formulate a more efficient system in some other way. That is my personal view. It will be a crucial task for whomever is in government in the coming years to manage the public service reform process. I am of the opinion that the latter should be done by using the process of partnership which has worked to the country's benefit in the past which everyone would recognise had its failings.

In the context of social partnership, it is incredibly difficult to make decisions to cut social welfare payments and so forth. If there are other ways in which we might manage the reduction in the budget spend and increase revenues in order to bridge the €15 billion gap that exists - which is something the two main parties in opposition want to see happen - I would love someone to identify them.

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