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

If one were to accept - and I do not - that we have a generalised recruitment issue within our public services, and if one were then to go on to argue that its main cause is insufficient pay, the largest single contribution the State can make to higher levels of pay is the affordable unwinding of FEMPI legislation. If that is done in a way that is affordable to the State, it will result over time in affordable wage increases being made available to those who work in our public services and those who wish to join them. I go back to the figure to which I referred earlier, the scale of the figure and what it would mean for other needs we must meet. We are engaged in a process that is focused on whether the Government can reach an agreement on the affordable unwinding of FEMPI legislation, with all the very significant consequences and costs it will entail for the Exchequer.

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