Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

Technical reasons are always given to explain why people at the top cannot be brought into the net. On the other hand, it is always possible to bring those at the bottom into the net. I do not understand this and I do not accept that if there is a will, a way cannot be found. The Government is arguing that it has the will to do this, but it is technically difficult to find a way. It does not seem to be technically difficult to hit the people at the very bottom. I disagree with the level at which the Fianna Fáil Party is pitching this. There is a certain irony in its belated conversion to reducing the salaries of people at the top of the public service. The basic principle underpinning what it is saying - that we should consider imposing caps on the earnings of anybody who is paid with public money, including people across the public service - is absolutely correct. It is disappointing that the Minister is putting technical obstacles in the way of this proposal. My response to all that has been said about retrospective legislation is that such legislation has been introduced in the UK.

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