Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. As this country continues to spend more than it earns, thereby storing up debt for future generations, Members must take on the difficult task of decreasing expenditure until the first step along the route for recovery is achieved, namely, spending within our means and therefore, I welcome the provisions of this Bill. It aims to reduce the remuneration of public servants earning more than €65,000, to reduce the pension of former public servants and to suspend increments for three years. Reservations have been expressed about reducing the pensions of former public servants but it must be remembered that for those in receipt of pensions of €32,500, this will reflect a reduction of 2%, while for those in receipt of pensions of more than €100,000 per annum, it will represent a contribution of 28%.

A number of the Bill's provisions are welcome and long overdue. Redeployment measures will be revised but the guideline redeployment distance will remain at 45 km. I believe this to be sensible, as many families could not cope with the additional costs redeployment could place upon them. Incidentally, I also believe an overhaul of the transfer system should be carried out to identify opportunities to transfer staff, where it would benefit both the person involved and the service in general. Given the Minister is keen to reduce public service numbers, I also believe the Government should give serious consideration to extending the availability of career breaks within the public service to allow those who are in a position to and who wish to take a break to so do, thereby freeing places for new graduates who are finding it very difficult to enter the workforce at present.

The health service continues to take a large percentage of the country's income and it is only natural that health and education are two areas the Government will continually seek to preserve amid difficult financial circumstances. While innovative measures have been put in place in an effort to maximise the effectiveness of the resources currently deployed, this has placed an increased workload on health care staff across all areas. I welcome the fact that expenditure on agency and locum staff is to be reduced with directly employed nurses and interns providing the compensatory hours. I also welcome that health centre staff who work on Sundays, traditionally a family day and a day of rest, are to be paid at double time for the work involved. Another aspect of the Bill's provisions concerns the suspension of increments for three years. Forgoing money one never had in some respects is much easier than having existing income reduced but many people have borrowed money in the belief their wages would increase incrementally in future years and I acknowledge the proposed suspension for three years will cause hardship to many. As many cuts to income are being made across the board, with more to come if our finances are to be brought into order, fairness is key. People must perceive these cuts to be fair and that they apply to all. I welcome that the Bill provides that public servants affected will include Members of the Oireachtas other than the President, as well as the Judiciary. The need to ensure that those who have most contribute most must be uppermost in Members' minds at all times and I believe this imperative is reflected in the Bill, which also places a significant burden on higher-paid public servants, both serving and retired, as well as affecting all public servants through the suspension of increments.

Before concluding, I compliment the Minister on the manner in which he has handled the negotiations to this point, as well as the trade union movement and Mr. Kieran Mulvey of the Labour Relations Commission. When the topic of conversation is reducing one's pay, it certainly will be neither easy nor popular. However, before the Minister concludes his contribution to the Second Stage debate, he should indicate whether he still believes the €300 million in savings will be achieved this year and whether the €1 billion in total savings is achievable over three years. The country is at a stage at which the Government must lead. It has set targets and must now follow through on those targets because that will be important, as this is part of the troika programme, to get us out of this situation. The title of the Bill reflects its purpose, as these are emergency measures in the public interest and while they are unpalatable for all those affected by them, they nevertheless are necessary if the required savings to get this country back on track are to be achieved.

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