Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the last point and I accept there is nobody earning more than €200,000 in the Civil Service or local authorities. The Minister mentioned that 18 people were receiving remuneration of more than €250,000. He might tell us the categories of people and the agencies involved. He went on to mention some academics and medics. Are they in addition to the 18 people mentioned first? He might clarify that.

What prompted my question is the fact - I do not wish to personalise this - that the chief executives of the ESB and the Dublin Airport Authority, along with hospital consultants, were not included in the previous arrangement, and we were told that they would be dealt with at an early stage. That was last July, but there is no sign of this happening. I would add to this the senior people at AIB, which is a completely State-owned company - I would not even call it a commercial semi-State, although it is a semi-State of some description - and those in the National Treasury Management Agency. The Minister has unanimous support in this House to deal with this issue. He would have unanimous support from the people of Ireland also. Let one or two of them go to court if they are so minded; I think the Minister would have the support even of the Judiciary if it came to that. That is why I mentioned legislation in my question. This might have to be done under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act or some similar mechanism to give a legal backing to the measures taken. I would support the Minister if he did all this.

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