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

On overall public service pay, we are discussing an agreement, which, as of the start of this week, all unions and representative bodies are now party to or associated with. The Deputy has raised concerns with me regarding public service pay but I would suggest to the House that we now have an agreement in place that over the next three years looks to increase public service pay by approximately 2% per year. This agreement has been accepted and ratified by the majority of our unions and all unions are either party to or associated with.

On the specific points the Deputy put to me, first, on shifting the debate beyond teachers, that is what this report does. It looks at the impact of this issue on the entirety of our public service.

On the Deputy's point regarding Australia, it will always be difficult for us to compete with jurisdictions that are paying twice or more what we are paying, but we can point to other things that our country offers that make it a very good place to work in.

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