Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister used the phrase "commensurate with the responsibilities" of the job. As a Deputy, I know the extent of the reductions we have taken over recent years, in terms of both salary and expenses. I am still willing, even though I know it stretches me with a young family and college responsibilities, to give that leadership and to face further reductions. It is not about what we do here. I would say that the reality is, for the vast majority of Deputies and Senators, that were we in other walks of life, what we actually get paid would not at all be commensurate with the huge number of hours that we work on a daily basis. However, we have roles and responsibilities and we are here to fulfil them. Many people in the public service are very highly motivated, no less than those in elected public life. I believe that there is a further responsibility on their shoulders to give the very best leadership and that can be demonstrated best by a willingness to do, as the Minister would argue, more for less. That is a phrase the Minister uses vis-à-vis so many other aspects of what he hopes to achieve in his role as Minister for Health. He regularly talks about getting more for less. That is something that we can all practise. I am indicating a willingness to do that and I believe that those at the highest echelons of the health services and the HSE should also show that example. The members of the directorate and the director general, who do indeed have significant roles and responsibilities, just as we all have in our roles here, can do their work for a much reduced level of remuneration than is currently being offered. I believe that is the example that must be given. Then we must look at all the other areas where the shoulders that can bear it best will start to seriously take the weight of the current challenge and not those at lower to middle income levels within the public service, who have been much too over-burdened.

See this speech in context