Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe that the partial restoration of the salary reduction which is to be applied to Deputies' and Senators' salaries should be deferred until all other groups have had their salaries reinstated to pre-financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, rates. It is unacceptable that Deputies and Senators should get a partial unwinding of FEMPI pay reductions through the Lansdowne Road agreement while other groups have to threaten industrial, take to the streets in protest and have recourse to the Labour Court or the Workplace Relations Commission to get some restoration of their pay. By all means allow higher civil servants or principal officers have some restoration of their FEMPI cuts if that is what is provided for in the Lansdowne Road agreement.

However, as legislators who introduced the FEMPI legislation in the first place, we should be the last to avail of pay restoration, not among the first, if for no other reason than to give a lead in pay restoration restraint and to show an understanding of the pain which FEMPI inflicted on our society. We must show true leadership. Teachers, nurses and gardaí have had their entry level pay reduced by 20% while their senior colleagues have had FEMPI applied to them in a draconian manner. These and other groups are having to fight hard and protest to ensure partial restoration of their pay scales, yet they have no clear pathway to full restoration of pay.

Many other workers and professions have suffered severely from the application of FEMPI legislation. General practice has seen a severe and devastating application of FEMPI, not just to net income but to gross turnover. Having a 38% reduction applied to gross fees has rendered many general practices unsustainable. GPs have had to abandon their practices, emigrate, retire early or simply become insolvent. As a profession, general practice has been so undermined by FEMPI that it is difficult to see how it can recover to begin to take on the responsibility and necessity to be the bedrock of our health service. All evidence presented to the Committee on the Future of Healthcare advises that general practice-led primary care is the most apt and efficient place to provide care for chronic illness and to look after our ageing population in local communities, thus avoiding the trolley queues that are now a regular feature of our health service. However, there is no pathway for pay restoration under FEMPI legislation for independent contractors, be they GPs, dentists, pharmacists or others who supply services to the Government. Outlining a pathway for the unwinding of FEMPI for self-employed contractors should be a priority for the Government. Therefore, this unwinding of FEMPI for Deputies and Senators should be deferred until all other sectors of society have had their pay restored.

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