Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

The unions have played an important part in pushing forward these talks and will play an important role in the process. One could say people in the talks have as much or more influence than the people in both Houses of the Oireachtas, but so be it if it continues to bring about the economic success it has already done with practically full employment. When I was in the Department of Post, Telegraphs and Transport in 1982 I went to the Netherlands on behalf of the IDA and tried to explain how inflation here was 20%, rising to 22%.