Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

We should acknowledge that and encourage such contributions. I do not believe this side of the House should always take the same view. If we have a different opinion from the Government we should say so. Perhaps we should encourage the Government to take on board some of our opinions in that regard.

We are in a very difficult situation. We are part of the global difficulties. I attended a meeting of a Fianna Fáil cumman in Campile, County Wexford two weeks ago. A major debate was held on this matter. The was much complaining, as is usual at these meetings. However, one man said that in every town and village in the world there is a recession and we must accept it. It may be preferable to be controversial and to personalise issues from the point of view of selling newspapers. Perhaps it is more attractive from a media point of view if such an approach succeeds in getting the attention of the audience. However, that constant drip can undermine collective and individual confidence.

Obviously, the correct decisions must be made. We must meet the challenges in the financial sector and elsewhere. However, we must also restore confidence. People must be able to hope and we must try to inject this into the system. The Government has shown courage this week. The decisions made took some courage, especially when the talks with the social partners broke down. I welcome the disposition and comments of Ministers, and especially the Taoiseach, who strongly and genuinely believes in a significant role for social partnership to get through our current difficulties. I recognise and support that call.

There must also be fairness. I recognise why the unions had some difficulties. I watched a very interesting debate on "Prime Time". There was representation from IBEC and Mr. Jack O'Connor from SIPTU was also present. He came across as very balanced, and he had certain difficulties with what was done. No one in the public service or in any business would welcome a cut in pay, which is understandable. However, failure to take such action now would lead to a horrendous situation later on. That is the reality. If we do not correct the public finances, the Government will be paralysed and unable to take effective measures to instil some growth into the economy, and to deal with the banking situation and so on. We may find ourselves unable to borrow money. I do not wish to be too alarmist, because we need to restore confidence, but we also need to be somewhat realistic.

In fairness, the Government must tackle those in privileged positions who are, perhaps, on salaries which are unsustainable in the current climate. As someone who raised the issue at the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, I welcome the statements from several people on contract in RTE. I am unsure if they have all made similar commitments. No one in a privileged position should be immune, especially lawyers who have been creaming off for a long time in the Four Courts and elsewhere at tribunals and so on. It is an absolute scandal. We should call on them to complete the tribunals with no additional pay whatsoever. I do not mean they should take a pay cut, rather that they should work gratis, because of the millions they have extracted from the taxpayer in the past decade. I hope the Government will take strong action and I will be very critical if it fails to do so.

A very bad deal has been done with the hospital consultants, which must be corrected, and not only by 8%. It should be retracted more significantly. There is no justification whatsoever for people in this country being paid 50% more for doing the same job as people in a neighbouring island. I hope the Government will focus on these issues and pursue them energetically and strenuously. Once people see that the Government has a very even-handed approach and that everyone is asked to contribute, progress can be made. If people fail to contribute or to assist in the national recovery plan, steps will be taken to ensure they do.

I echo the comments of Senator Quinn on encouraging risk-takers and entrepreneurs. The last thing we need is to turn on each other. This additional payment from the public sector should remove the debate and criticism between the public and private sectors. We are all in this together and we will all either come through it together and come out at the other end unscathed, or we will all come out seriously retarded, both financially and in other ways. This is a boat that must be rowed in unison.