Eoghan Harris (Independent)

Unless the public sector, what I term the cushioned class, is reformed, there can be no peace. It is wrong to pick on the Minister of State, Deputy Máire Hoctor, or the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who are unfortunate to have to carry the burden of what should be a general taxation issue. Children, pensioners and individual Ministers should not have to carry that burden. That is the reason I will not vote against the Minister on a vote of confidence this time as it is not fair to the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. The Government is funking and getting the money from the only class which has it currently, the cushioned class of the public sector, the higher paid public sector.

Over the weekend we found out many things from reports. We found it is no longer true that the public sector is paid substantially less than the private sector. There are no masses of low-paid public sector workers, as we were told, although there is a number of them. People in permanent and pensionable employment will sail through a recession and allow their fellow workers and comrades in the private sector to squeeze, struggle and strain through the recession. That is wrong.

I strongly support Deputy Brian Hayes's comments on a pay freeze for principals, Deputy Richard Bruton's statement on reform of the public sector and the comments of Kevin Myers this morning that we are in a virtual wartime situation. We need a national Government that will deal with these matters. It is appalling that there is no one in the Government of the calibre of Deputies Richard Bruton and Brian Hayes.