Seanad debates

Wednesday, 8 October 2003

The issue of cross-sectoral relativities and analogues right across the public service has bedevilled the system for the past 50 years. I was a member of a Government some years ago that thought it had finished with them. I remember the director of finance saying to the Cabinet that we would finish certain things before Christmas one year, pay out certain amounts of money and that the whole system was then finished. As Senator O'Toole will remember, we were so confident about that matter that we did not bother appointing the conciliator and arbitrator for some months. It was intended that we should not appoint one at all and that the system was finished. However, lo and behold, not very long after that we had to give into one group and that set off the whole process again. We tried it again in other agreements. The benchmarking body was when everyone agreed that cross-sectoral relativities were dead. If that was the only outcome of the benchmarking body, it would be well worth it as far as the Government, and any future Government, is concerned.

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