Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not recall giving great credit to those who set fire to the State for calling the fire brigade and I will not do that. It was necessary because of the collapse of our economy due to a variety of factors, above all poor administration, politically, in the last part of the previous Administration. We have had to do a number of difficult things including bringing in the FEMPI legislation, which we have maintained because we could not have survived and made the adjustments we needed without it. Unfortunately, that is the position we were left in but I want to look forward. The Irish people have gone through a very difficult period but public service workers, unlike many in analogous countries who were in difficulties, did not go on strike, instead taking a round of pay cuts and working harder. We are doing much more with less and we now have 10% fewer people working in the public service doing an awful lot more. I want to keep that productivity so that we have a sustainable future for public services and for the people of Ireland.

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