Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I share the concerns Deputy Calleary outlined about the risk that we feel is inherent in this that the outcome of the negotiations will be such that the amount paid to retirees would be derisory, rendering the process almost null and void in the context of the pound of flesh that supervisors have given through their years of service. The Government should not at the end of this process be levelled with the charge that it was a token process. The process has to be such that the amount of moneys that will be awarded to people will be commensurate with their years of service and meaningful for those people. I accept the bona fides of the Ministers in the Department and accept the fact that there is a process to be gone through in respect of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, but I ask the Minister of State to ensure that the moneys that are paid at the end of the day will be meaningful given the supervisors' years of service.

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