Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

Okay. I have set out the reality. The Deputies know that in their hearts. I have mentioned previously that Deputy Higgins and I soldiered together on these battles many moons ago. I know where his ideology is anchored. It is not anchored in the reality of today. That is my personal judgment on it. I know he is sincere in what he believes. In my judgment, social provision would be destroyed if the approach he is advocating were adopted right now. There is an understanding that senior administrators, such as high ranking gardaí, including chief superintendents, or the heads of public bodies, need remuneration that is sufficient to attract people into the public service. However, it should not be egregiously large, as it was in recent times. We need to value public service and public servants. Wage levels should be analogous to what might be paid in the private sector. I believe passionately that we should not destroy public service as an option for talented and able people. We should not use the real hurt of people who are struggling to survive as a battering ram to denigrate the notion of public service. We should not think we can slash and burn, or squeeze further, without that having consequences. These matters-----

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