Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. What surprises me with regard to the Minister's handling of this issue is that if he thought it was such a good deal, why did he contribute so much, more than anyone else, to its rejection? In the week before the deal was agreed, the Minister started by putting out black propaganda against health workers and how much they were paid on Sundays. Thereafter, at a critical time in the talks he himself forced a large proportion of public sector workers to withdraw from the talks. He set about a policy of divide and conquer. In an interview with the Sunday Business Post on 17 March to give himself good publicity during the St. Patrick's weekend, he referred to an across-the-board pay cut and stated, "It is inefficient, in my view, and does not contribute to the process of long-term reform contained in [the] ... agreement".

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