Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt anyone. From speaking to people across the European Union institutions, I know that the reduction in the number of people working in the service at a time of exceptional demand and the reduction in the public sector pay and pension bill without loss of days through strikes and industrial action is quite an achievement.

There are two fundamental principles required and I hope everyone in the House accepts them. We must find savings of €300 million this year and annualised savings of €1 billion by 2015. We want to do this through agreement and discussion with trade unions. There were a myriad of reasons people voted against Croke Park II. The proposal was fair and balanced and those at the top of the tree had to pay more because they have broader shoulders. There was flexibility in the deal; for example, prison officers and those who worked in the Defence Forces managed to negotiate a deal because of the flexibility offered. Those earning over €100,000 saw permanent reductions in income while those earning less than €65,000 did not see reductions in basic income, although there were reductions through premium pay, overtime and allowances. In the context of the proposed agreement, we guaranteed that increments would be paid, albeit at a phased level. It was a fair and balanced agreement but we are now in a new space. I ask people to look at this afresh and see if we can move forward.

The situation will not be helped by the comments of Sinn Féin. The party is totally incapable of telling people the truth on this issue. It maintains we can take out everyone earning over €100,000, of whom there are 6,000 out of 290,000, and reduce their salaries to €100,000. I read the Sinn Féin pre-budget submission, which refers to an annualised cost saving for 2013 of €102 million. If we take half of that for this year, €50 million, it amounts to one sixth of the savings we need this year. It cannot be done by taking out everyone earning over €100,000, putting them up against the wall and inviting former comrades in the IRA to do what they can to them. That will not solve the problem and the Sinn Féin members know it.

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