Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

With regard to the substantive issue, which is the change in the numbers in the public services, Members of the Opposition have made many points. Some of these are fair, and I agree with some of the points made on the process and how it unfolded, but not with others. I ask people to consider the alternative to the approach outlined. There is general agreement that we need to reduce the cost and size of our public services, but the number of options open to us to do so are quite limited.

The first option open to us is another round of wage cuts. If the Government were to follow this route, it would be the third such wage cut in 24 months, which is something any government would be eager to avoid given the recent implementation of two such wage cuts in a short time period. The next option is to reduce the number of people in the public service. There would be no consensus or support for the Government following the route of compulsory sackings from the public service. The Government chose the voluntary route, asking people whether they wanted to leave and whether it is worth while to do so given where they were in their lives, the options open to them and the support the State could give them. Once one goes down this route, one must give people time to make up their minds and respond. Of the three options available to the Government to deliver the targets of a public service that is affordable inside the constraints of the money we are raising, this is clearly the most attractive and fairest route.

The point has been made that this generated uncertainty regarding where we would end up, and this is a fair criticism. However, I ask people to bear in mind that once we go down the voluntary route, our understanding of where we will end up will always be uncertain because one must see how people respond. It is an inevitable consequence of going down the route requiring the consent of one's employees. That being said, there could have been greater clarity regarding where we thought the exits would come from and better understanding of what numbers could be delivered without putting pressure on front-line services.

Given what is happening, a discussion on the number of people we have in our public services misses the point. We need to focus on what they can deliver and how we can support them in doing so.

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