Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy asked a profound and important question. The Croke Park agreement, which I acknowledge was negotiated by the preceding Government, has made a very substantial contribution to the transformation agenda in the public service, allowing us to downsize and reduce the pay bill in the terms I talked about and in industrial peace, which is extremely important and valuable in itself. If we did not have that I believe we would have a different dialogue. The perception of Ireland would be quite different.

However, I am also conscious that we have a way to go yet. One thing that has concerned me for a number of months is that despite the extraordinary contribution of the public service to the recovery we still have very significant hills to climb between now and 2015 to arrive at a deficit of 2.9%. It is clear to me there will be a requirement for dialogue if that particular steep hill is to be climbed. I have been thinking about that and dialoguing within my Department on the issue over a considerable period of months.

The specific running time of the current agreement is understood to be the end of next year although that is not specified in the actual agreement. Whether we engage with the public service unions before that time in regard to a successor agreement is obviously important because the horizon I want to reach is 2015, with a reformed public service and a pay bill that is sustainable well beyond 2015.

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