All informed commentators knew that some better way had to be found to set public service pay. In 1998 the Taoiseach took the initiative by calling for a better way to manage public service pay. There followed detailed discussions between the public service employers and unions to find a better way forward. The outcome was benchmarking, a process set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness in July 2000. A major advantage the Government saw was that the unions agreed that the old system of cross-sectoral relativities was dead, which was a fundamental change.