Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

There is a view circulating in the House that, because this is an issue in which there is significant public interest, the Government will support the Bill or at least not block it at this stage. On the other hand, there is also a view that the Government parties intend either to neuter the Bill on Committee Stage or to amend it to such an extent that it is no longer viable. Even worse, they may intend simply to let it gather dust. If Members opposite take that approach, my colleagues and I will persist it reminding them of the need for action. Likewise, the unions, representatives of which are in the Chamber today, will not stop reminding the Government about it.

It is interesting that people on massive wages often find it easy to tolerate pay reductions for those on low wages. It is like many issues in this country - the people who develop public health services usually have private health care; most of those who develop the public education system send their children to private schools; and the people who design cycling and public transport infrastructure are unlikely to use either. Similarly, Members on the Government benches who earn five times the wages of JLC workers and Ministers who earn ten times the average JLC wage are eager to reduce the remuneration of these low-paid workers.

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