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

We can change our Constitution. The lesson to be extrapolated from the recent referendum on judicial pay is that people want the salaries of top earners who are paid with public money to be reduced. The Minister knows that is the case. It is why he proposed the referendum. The people did not concern themselves with the detail. They accepted the principle that the salaries of people at the top of the public service who are paid excessively should be reduced. That is why they voted in favour of the proposal. The people would have no problem voting in favour of a constitutional amendment that would open the way for similar reductions to be imposed on officials in semi-State companies and people who previously served in the public sector. The Minister knows that people would back him if he had a serious intent to amend the Constitution in that regard. The problem is that the will is not there. I appeal to the Labour Party, in particular, to recognise the sense of injustice that is felt by people. He should show some measure of willingness to extend-----

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