Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I agree with the Deputy to the extent that a big burden is being carried by a whole cross-section of our community, public servants, workers and all taxpayers on foot of disastrous decisions that were made by bankers and policy makers in the State. It is not fair but it is necessary in order for the country to survive and to thrive and there is no way that can be 'magicked' away. Whether it is deemed to be fair or unfair, it is a burden that the population must carry because we are determined to bring about solvency again.

To answer the Deputy's specific question, the Croke Park agreement has been accepted and is being implemented by the Government. Under the Croke Park agreement, there are conditionalities that will require fundamental change in the way that public services are delivered and a downsizing of the public service. If those conditionalities that are set out in the agreement are met, the Government side and the employers have said that it will not reduce pay or have compulsory redundancies. Also implicit in that agreement is that the one potential for negotiation which is to look at increases in pension to be linked to inflation rather than linked to the grade at which the person retired. Those negotiations will not be opened until after the conclusion of the agreement in 2014.

I will be bringing in a pensions Bill, as I have indicated, to link the retirement age of civil servants in the future, not of incumbents, to the retirement age of the State pension generally.

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