David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said he had no intention of punishing those public sector workers who are outside the terms of the Lansdowne Road agreement, but then went on to set out exactly how he will punish them. They asked for issues to be addressed that were outside the terms of the Lansdowne Road agreement. They did not get them in those negotiations. He is now saying they will not benefit from what is in the Lansdowne Road agreement. Furthermore, he is saying they will be subject to the extraordinary powers that were given to him by the previous Government regarding the FEMPI legislation, so they will be further punished. That is what is going on here. He is punishing those workers who are outside those agreements.

The Minister has no plan beyond the Lansdowne Road agreement for public servants. He talks about those who came into the system in 2011. I have tried my best to get a figure from his Department as to how much it will cost to return to a single-tier pay structure in the public service to deal with pay equalisation. I met officials from the Minister's Department. They are not able to give me the figures. They say it is impossible to cost.

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