Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As a principle, any change must ensure those with the most and those on higher incomes contribute the most to the resolution of the crisis we are in. I put to the Taoiseach my contention that this exercise was completely oversold from the beginning. It was suggested it would yield massive savings. The massive spin machine employed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, in particular, came to naught. It was suggested savings of €150 million could be made from a €1.5 billion pot, but a figure of just €3 million was realised. Will the Taoiseach indicate to the House the total amount in allowances paid in his Department? What percentage of the overall allowances paid in the Department will be saved as a result of the savings he enumerated? If he does not have that information to hand, he might be able to forward it to me at a later stage. As I have no interest in rewriting history - Deputy Gerry Adams may have - I would like to remind the House that the pay of all public servants was increased significantly during our time in office, for which we have been criticised. Over a sustained period, substantial increases were awarded across the ranks to the various grades in the Civil Service and the public service generally through procedures such as social partnership, benchmarking and independent pay reviews. The allowances issue was raised by the Government. I tabled Question No. 1 in that context.

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