The benchmarking process has substantially increased the public service pay bill. My understanding of the process is that we benchmark pay in the public service in return for significant improvements in performance. It is vital from an economic perspective that we secure the reforms necessary to deliver these improvements in return for the multi-billion euro investment we are making in the benchmarking process. The OECD clearly states: "It is important that future wage adjustment in the public sector should be strictly conditional upon the demonstration of higher efficiency." This sentiment would command widespread respect on all sides of the House.