Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

From the very beginning, our approach has been one of discussion and agreement. Any proposals we have made on public sector pay and conditions have been negotiated with the public sector unions and agreed by vote, in contrast with the approach of the previous Government, which imposed changes arbitrarily. I agree entirely on the notion that working people and public servants in particular were not the cause of our economic collapse. A decision was made in this House to guarantee unsustainable bank positions. I voted against it, and evidence that has come before the banking inquiry recently has underscored the complete folly of the blanket guarantee. We came into Government to fix a broken economy and having worked might and main with the Irish people to achieve it, we do not want to jeopardise it. We are determined to allow people who have endured much and who have not had a pay increase for seven years to have a horizon in which we will get back to normal. However, it must be done in a sustainable way.

In my previous remark on recruitment, I did not mean people would do the same job on different rates, but that the skills mix could be different. For example, if a school had the capacity to hire one type of employee but would find two different grades more effective, I would like it to have the capacity. This is a work in progress.

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