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

The Taoiseach has asked the LRC to talk to the unions to see if there is room for a negotiation on the outcome of the agreement. What exactly does that mean? Is he asking it to test the ground with the unions to see whether they can run the vote again? Is that the Taoiseach's thinking? Given that he is hell-bent on finding this €300 million, why does the Taoiseach put himself in a type of policy straitjacket? Why will he not look beyond the proposals in Croke Park II to other initiatives that could raise those moneys fairly? Perhaps there is an argument for a proportion of that to come from the cosseted upper echelons of the public sector, but low- and middle-income workers and front-line workers have told the Government definitively that they have no more to give. Has the Taoiseach heard that? Does he understand it? Why will he not allow the LRC to open up the discussion in a genuine, open-minded way and listen to the proposals that many of the trade unions will bring forward as to how he might gather the €300 million? Will the Taoiseach not agree that "No" does mean "No"?

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