Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Over the past two years, there has been a clear stabilisation of the public finances and there have been many positive events signalling Ireland's economic recovery. It must be acknowledged that getting to this point has not been easy, has required great efforts by the vast majority of citizens and has affected almost all aspects of Irish life. It is sad and disheartening to observe some public commentators practically hoping that things would go wrong for whatever reason, be it because they considered they would be proven right or for political benefit. The focus of such commentators has been on the negative with little attention paid to the positive developments that have been crucial to restoring this country. It is timely to recall some of the aforementioned positive developments that have taken place. These include the promissory note deal, which removed the onerous and overbearing annual repayment requirement of €3.1 billion and reduced significantly the amount the State must repay, the fulfilment of the Government's commitment to protect the weekly social welfare rate and to leave unchanged income tax rates, as well as political reform, including reductions to the salaries and allowances of Ministers and Deputies and an injection of transparency with the abolition of unvouched expenses. In addition, there has been a €2.5 billion investment in job creation measures, including the first ever co-ordinated and measured action plan for jobs, which hopefully will continue to deliver real results. The vulnerable have been protected by restoring the minimum wage and exempting 330,000 people from the universal social charge and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been created. It is the first Department to focus on maximising the effectiveness and efficiency of the public services in the history of the State.

This last point is important because an inescapable fact is that 35% of Government spending is on the public sector pensions and pay bill. During the so-called good times, the private sector, through companies paying a variety of taxes, was able to support the increase of pay in the public sector, as well as growing public sector pension costs. At present, however, Ireland has a private sector that is recovering slowly from the worst global economic crash in living memory. Many private sector workers have found themselves, through no fault of their own, out of work and dependent, often for the first time, on social welfare payments. An interesting point, albeit one that appears to have been forgotten by many, is that if a company in the private sector experiences economic or financial difficulties, it must take decisive action to reduce costs in the hope that the viability of the company can be secured. In many cases, this involves payroll reductions for the simple reason that the latter often is a company's largest cost. The same notion must apply to the public sector, which does not operate in a vacuum. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of all Members to play a part in the restoration of the State's finances, the State continues to be obliged to borrow approximately €1 billion per month to meet the shortfall between revenue and expenditure. It simply is inconceivable that, as the Government is obliged to close and eliminate the deficit, one of its largest sources of expenditure would be sacrosanct and remain untouched.

The Bill before Members is twofold. First, it introduces the legislation that would permit changes to the level of remuneration in the public sector which, as I have stated previously, will be necessary if Ireland is to complete successfully its economic recovery. Second, and most importantly, however, it is necessary to prevent such measures from applying to public sector workers and unions which have signed up to the public sector stability agreement or the Haddington Road agreement. This agreement is the result of the Trojan efforts on the part of the Minister, Deputy Howlin, the Government, representatives of public sector workers' unions and obviously, the chairman of the Labour Relations Commission, Mr. Kieran Mulvey. Very little in life is ever achieved by descending into conjecture and argument or by simply refusing to enter into dialogue. This agreement is proof of the benefit of staying at the table, listening to viewpoints, acknowledging problems, considering workable solutions and respectfully negotiating. Everyone involved in this process deserves to be commended on their dedication and commitment to the process.

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