Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What price does the Minister put on industrial harmony? The full cost of pay equalisation is €190 million. The Minister has set aside €75 million out to 2020 and he will then spread the rest out up to 2026. We are not talking billions of euro. It will cost €190 million for industrial harmony and to try to bring people back to levels of equality post-2011. It is not a huge ask. People look at the recovery and the amount pumped into banks, to which, by the way, the Minister is still giving tax breaks. He could have addressed that in the budget by way of a bank levy and he would have had more than enough to fund €190 million. I do not say it should have been done over one year but to do it out to 2026 is unacceptable.

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