Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Yesterday I raised the need for a debate on the public sector and how it operates etc. I received a number of queries afterwards about the recent report which came to the conclusion that public servants were paid 25% more than private sector workers. I will give one example to show how wrong is that report. No job assessment or measurement of the input or output of a job was used. None of the jobs was examined. The report was based on demographics, qualifications and age. For example, if it were applied to the Taoiseach's post, the outcome would be that the Taoiseach's pay should be that of a 47 year old solicitor living in a midlands town. I do not say that is right or wrong but this is an example of how the report is unrelated to what is happening in the public sector. Members, particularly those on the Government benches, should be keenly aware of this. I acknowledge the public service issue and that public service pay needs to be dealt with in an appropriate way but the report that emerged this week is misleading and unhelpful.

On a number of occasions I have raised the need to deal with the question of the North-South Ministerial Council. I wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs about the matter during the summer. Meetings take place regularly and Ministers return to Stormont to report on what they have done but no report is made by our Ministers to either the Dáil or the Seanad. I have suggested to the Leader who seems open to the idea that a Minister attached to the Department of Foreign Affairs should come to the House to give a summary of the work of the Council following meetings and that the same should also be done regarding the business of the European Union. On a monthly basis, a digest or precis of the key decisions and policies dealt with by the Union should be given to the House. The advantage of taking these two actions would be that diverse issues would be addressed and we would not have a dead House with only one or two speakers. The North-South report could concern three or four different ministries. It is important that the work of the Union and the North-South Ministerial Council be recognised. The Council will celebrate its tenth anniversary in December and I would like the House to mark it with a special debate on its work which is hugely important but which goes unrecognised. We should mark the occasion with a major discussion which could lead to something being held on a regular basis.

Senator Fitzgerald correctly referred to the necessity for consultation on the public transport legislation. One of the issues we have highlighted in the report on Seanad reform is that where Bills are initiated in the House, an invitation should be extended to interest groups to make presentations to a group of Senators on the issues involved. That would address the concern raised by Senator Fitzgerald. These are simple actions that we should take until such time as the Government parties get their act together regarding proper reform of the House.