Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the Deputy, the voluntary sector contributes an enormous unpaid value to the State. This is evident, as the Deputy is well aware, across every town and parish in the country every weekend and every night, when many people voluntarily give of their time and commit to working with young people and various groups throughout the country, receiving nothing in return. Many of them do that because they have been doing it for years and because they are involved in a movement. They express their commitment to public service in that fashion, which is absolutely to be commended. Ministers who have been dealing with this area continually point out the value of volunteerism. Clearly, the old concept of the meitheal, of which the Deputy is well aware, has not gone away and is very strong in Ireland today. It is something we commend and that we want to continue to foster, and if facilities and assistance can be given by Departments and State agencies to make that happen, so much the better.

It is not the case that I only meet the movers and shakers, as the Deputy calls them. I meet members of chambers of commerce around the country and the agricultural sector, which is still the largest carrier of manufacturing jobs throughout the European Union. I am glad to see the extent of research, innovation and investment that is taking place in that sector because that means jobs, employment and circulation of money in local economies, which is to be strongly supported and commended. I meet the American Chamber of Commerce on a reasonably regular basis every few months to monitor what is happening on the world markets with regard to the global products they manufacture here and export. It is important to reflect the issues they see arising in a European context and beyond, because of the number of jobs - more than 100,000 - that are supported by that kind of investment in the country. I know the Deputy does not object to that.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has set out his targets in dealing with the trade unions. When I met the Minister and the implementation group, our view was that we have recognised the contribution the Croke Park agreement has made to industrial peace and stability in the country and the very significant changes in the public service that have been made by agreement and through implementation by public servants. I pointed out previously how many people have had to change rosters, drive to new places of work, deal with changed responsibilities and deliver a greater and more efficient service with fewer facilities and resources than they had in the past. That is to be commended. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, is engaging with the trade union movement to talk about not only what we said to the implementation group - that we want to see the Croke Park agreement implemented in full with more ambitious and accelerated targets - but also the requirement for up to €1 billion in extra savings to be achieved incrementally by 2015, which is a big challenge and will have a particular impact on the Department of Health and a number of other Departments. The Minister is conducting those discussions with the trade union movement and I am sure that when he next takes questions he will be happy to take more detailed questions on the progress of those discussions.

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