Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I am afraid I am a little in sympathy with some of the trade unions to which Senator McDowell referred. There are ways, other than promotion, of rewarding people, for example, by giving them interesting and worthwhile jobs. Most matters in the public service involve teamwork. While there are important individual contributions and there may be occasions on which particular individuals can be picked out, much of the time it might be difficult and invidious to do so. In addition, there is pressure to extend it to everyone, which defeats the purpose.

There is some reward in a good job done and one does not necessarily need special monetary recognition for doing one's job well. In certain situations, such monetary recognition also lends itself to a certain degree of favouritism for particular individuals and I wonder if it is more trouble than it is worth. Some moves have been made along those lines, but I do not have the details and I do not know if the Minister of State has them either. I do not like the notion in the private commercial sector that one must have lots of money to be incentivised. As Gene Kerrigan would say, "To get out of bed in the morning, you need dollops of bonuses and incentives".