Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuireann sé áthas orm deis a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá faoin ábhar seo. The first comment I will make in the short time I have is that it was a fundamental mistake not to have a senior Minister at the table. The idea of the Taoiseach double-jobbing, that is to say having line Ministries as well as the functions of the Taoiseach, is bad practice. I saw it happen under a Fianna Fáil Government many years ago, before I came into this House. It was bad practice then and it is bad practice now. No matter how worthy a Minister of State is - and I have been both a Minister and a Minister of State - it is not the same as a line Minister fighting his or her corner at the Cabinet table. When the referee is fighting one of the corners, it makes the job more difficult. That issue should, and can, be addressed. There should be a Cabinet Minister with responsibility for defence at the table. That is no reflection on the personalities involved; it is a reflection on the structures. I do not mean that one Cabinet Minister cannot have two Departments, as the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform has, but only that it should be a line Minister rather than the referee in the game, an Taoiseach, who does so.

Everyone on all sides of the House agrees there is a problem. We seem to have gotten ourselves into a tangle with all of the structures we have put in place such that, when a clear problem arises, we are not able to work our way through the fog. When a crisis then arises, as happened in respect of the nurses and other disputes, a way we were told was not there is suddenly found to be there. A lot of damage is, however, done in the interim.

The proposal here is quite simple: restore the allowances. Many of these allowances were abolished during the downturn in the economy. At that time savings had to be made, but times and circumstances have changed. The economy is competitive and much more buoyant, which puts pressure on the public service. The Government should have the will and find the way. It seems that in dealing with all of the problems we face, all we do is go into endless processes. We need an end to this crisis.

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