Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On knock-on effects and pay increases across sectors, we have to acknowledge, and we would be putting our heads in the sand if we did not, that we have a problem with low pay in this country and particularly in the public sector. The ushers and service officers in this House, the cleaners, everyone who looks after us, are not paid enough. The pay is too low. We are not just singling out the secretarial assistants for the sake of it but this is the particular legislation that we are dealing with that pertains to them. There should be an acknowledgement that the rate of inflation, the cost of electricity, rent and of educating your kids is all going way out of kilter with the pay of ordinary workers and particularly with the grades that we meet daily in this House, right across the public sector and the civil service. Therefore, that acknowledgment is important. I welcome the political signal that the Minister is giving today on the secretarial assistants but I also think a political signal around the low pay of our public servants would be very helpful indeed, whether it is knock-on or not. An acknowledgement of it and telling things as they really are and the truth of what people face daily is important.

I am disappointed that the Minister is not going to accept the amendment because he knows that the reason it is there is because it is our job in the Opposition to make the Government accountable.

The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that no matter what the Minister says today - we are glad of his positive pronouncements - is what he actually means and that he is held accountable to that. That is why the amendment is there. I plead with him to accept it. It is not going to tie his feet to the floor, pull his toenails out, torture him or send him to Guantánamo Bay. It is only holding him to what he is saying here, on a piece of paper that says he will be accountable to this House when the chips are down.

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