Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Does the Taoiseach agree that public sector reform and the Croke Park agreement are really a crude cover for cutting thousands of jobs in the public sector? Does he agree that this will have severely damaging effects? The OECD stated just a few years ago that we had a small public sector compared with many other EU countries. How does he feel about this disgraceful blackmailing by Labour Party Ministers, who are threatening more wage cuts on low and middle income workers, while his Government does not introduce cuts for gambling billionaire bondholders?

The Taoiseach stated just a few minutes ago that public sector reform must result in significantly reduced staff numbers. Is he aware that the reduction of numbers in the health service has already put intolerable pressure on staff members delivering the service and a deterioration in the quality of service to the community? How does that square with the Government putting a potential €70 billion into banks to cover the debts of bondholders?

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