Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is sending out mixed messages because on the one hand he says he favours a negotiated settlement and that he will not act unilaterally. If that is the case he is not legislating unilaterally, never mind for a 7% cut. That suggests that he is going to go back and re-engage with the unions and the workers. The point is well made in respect of the Estimates and the factoring in of the deal. He was taking that almost as a fait accompli. He may be reflecting but he is causing confusion. If it is the case that he intends to act unilaterally and to force legislation through, despite the vote of workers and their unions, he should just say so. There is no need for a protracted reflection period. If he were to do that it would represent the heaviest hand of this Government to date.

It does not really matter that he still thinks the LRC proposals and Croke Park II were fair and the best deal, as they have been rejected. It is gone.

The Minister needs to find €300 million this year, accumulating to €1 billion by 2015, and he is hell bent that this must come from the public service payroll. He knows well, because I have argued long and hard about this, that he can go ahead and target overpaid and over pensioned people in the system but he cannot credibly levy further hardship on low and middle income earners if he serious about maintaining decent public services and rebuilding the domestic economy.

See this speech in context