Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I had a serious argument with Senator Ross some years ago when we were discussing benchmarking. I made the point that public service pensions were taken into consideration and that the benchmarking award was duly reduced. I now find that I made a mistake and concede the point. This morning the ESRI stated that private sector pensions cost the State more than public sector pensions, which is a disgrace. The private sector should pay us back money. There must be a proper adjustment of awards in the new benchmarking arrangements to ensure a decent increase next time around which takes into consideration the huge amount the State is spending on private sector pensions.