Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----the argument to no avail or for the sake of coming in here and saying that some people are saying the emergency is over and, therefore, it must be over. What is the point if he does not agree with that point of view? The Preamble to the Bill sets it out in fairly clear terms. It states, "WHEREAS economic growth has resumed and the State’s international competitiveness has improved and a significant improvement in the fiscal circumstances of the State has occurred;". All of that is acknowledged in terms of what the Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance and I have said. It goes on to state, "AND WHEREAS it remains necessary to retain firm control of current Exchequer expenditure so as to ensure ongoing access to international funding and improve competitiveness, while taking into account the continuing risks to the public finances which remain, and the need to meet the State’s commitments to have a prudent fiscal policy under the Stability and Growth Pact and the Fiscal Compact;". It then sets out the provisions of this Bill.

Pay and pensions are private property under the law and under the determinations of the court. That is why we can only interfere with it in exceptional circumstances where there is a real and demonstrable emergency. I do not think anybody would argue that we have not endured that as a nation over the past number of years. We are not out of the woods yet. We have made enormous progress, as the Tánaiste indicated to the House in the debate on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill. Thankfully, we do not have the 15.2% unemployment rate we had shortly after this Government came into office and we are now almost back to having 2 million people in work, which is fantastic, but we have a way to go. We still have 8.9% of the population unemployed and we need to get them back into work. We need to undo the FEMPI legislation in a structured and orderly way. I did not invent the structure of it. I negotiated the structure of it with the trade union movement and asked it to endorse it, and the public sector congress of trade unions have endorsed the proposals I am asking the Oireachtas to support today.

On Deputy Healy's final point that we are withholding something from any worker, there is no decision to withhold anything from anybody in the legislation before us. I hope that everybody will embrace the Lansdowne Road agreement and enjoy the full benefits, as every worker should, from this legislation.

See this speech in context