Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I wish the Minister well. I was so enraged by the budget before last. One of my biggest rows with the late Brian Lenihan, with whom I was good friends, came from when he went back on his decision to apply the pension levy to senior public servants. I now know why he did it - they had his ear. No one else in the country got away with it. An outrageous decision, it undermined the entire process.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, has set up an implementation group to oversee the amalgamation of my county's local authorities. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, can stop his colleague from appointing two former senior civil servants to the board. They retired on good packages. They have no contracts anymore, so the Government has no obligation under the unions or so on. Stomp out this gravy train. They have had enough. Why should they be on the board? Some of them were anti-local authority, although I will not cast aspersions. Why should we go back to that pool? The gravy pot is being stirred. It must be broken at the bottom to let the gravy run out.

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