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

I will make three points. Since I made this announcement, I have outlined that I would put in place the measures and decisions to ensure that services are not affected as a result of doing this. I welcome that all Deputies have agreed with the decision I made and indicated that it was an appropriate response to the matter that developed in the aftermath of the Labour Court recommendation. In line with the commitments I have to the Oireachtas in 2017 on the publication of the work that is necessary in advance of budget 2018, I will identify the choices I will make to deliver this funding while not reducing service commitments to citizens.

I will conclude by responding to the point Deputy Curran made. I remind him that this issue developed in the aftermath of the budget in October. The Labour Court recommendation and the consequences of it for gardaí happened after the budget was presented to the House. If I had stood up in the House and presented higher figures for public pay than were agreed in the Lansdowne Road agreement, I would have been asked by the Deputy and other colleagues why we were changing assumptions on public pay under the Lansdowne Road agreement and why we were asking the House to sanction people being paid more. That would not have been the appropriate thing to do at that point. In 2017, as we move through the management of a budget of €58 billion, I will identify how I will deliver the commitments I have laid out.

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