Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am in favour of fairness. I want to ensure we have the right level of public services for those who need them. I want us to be in a position to build the homes that Deputy Boyd Barrett quite correctly referenced the need for, to invest in hospitals and universities and to deliver the transport infrastructure mentioned by Deputy Cullinane earlier. The challenge is that the same funding which would have to be used to deliver all of this is the same funding we have to use to pay public service workers. Any single change in the State's pay and pension bill of approximately €15 billion would have substantial consequences for our ability to improve our public services and pay every public service worker fairly, regardless of the point in time at which they entered the public service. It would be great if Deputy Boyd Barrett were to refer in his analysis of this issue to the fact that we concluded our negotiations with the INTO and the TUI with an agreement that seeks to deal with the issue of teachers' pay in a phased manner across 2017 and 2018.

See this speech in context