Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

The public pay bill should be reduced from its current value of €19 billion to approximately €15 billion, thus saving €4 billion, and another €4 billion should be taken from the rest of current expenditure by cutting the waste which can be seen by all in every nook and cranny. Such waste occurs in every big organisation and I do not suggest this pertains solely to the public sector as it also applies in major organisations in the private sector. However, the latter are driven by the bottom line and are taking the pain at present. Unless such measures are applied in an even-handed fashion across the entire public sector, it will be very serious.

It does not surprise me that people in the public sector object to my argument but we have to face up to the challenge. If we fail to address these problems within the next two years, we may be forced to join the three countries which are currently under the protection of the IMF. A condition of IMF support will be draconian cutbacks in public expenditure. We have an opportunity to do this ourselves but if we fail to meet the challenge, we will suffer down the line.