Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I salute the trade union movement because it has demonstrated the maturity and responsibility we have come to associate with it through the years. In the bad old days, it was the trade union movement that stood up on behalf of the most vulnerable sections of society. As a result, we had the Celtic tiger period. Without the trade union movement, that would not have happened. I see what is emerging from the negotiations as an exercise in responsibility which will help ensure confrontation can be avoided. If we look back on the record of this House over the past several months at some of the many constructive comments made here, we will see many of our concerns reflected in what is now emerging from the negotiations. If we did not achieve the result we now seem so close to achieving, what would the alternative have been? It would not only have meant confrontation, but also loss of jobs. It would also have undermined any possibility we had of making progress. We are all aware of the crisis we are in and have discussed it here at length.

We should also salute the Government and not just with regard to this issue. If the word "compromise" is not central to every effort made, we will not succeed. We are all aware of and have met the different lobby groups. If we are to find any cohesion in the future, we must be prepared to look at our own position. We have all said it is necessary to have individual sacrifices. In many ways, these individual sacrifices are inculcated in the representative groups involved in the negotiations. Many of those here have called for a return to social partnership. We have had virtual social partnership over the past couple of weeks and I would be very surprised if we did not return to full social partnership in the future, which is precisely what we want.

When we talk about a victor, we are not talking about trade unions, employers or Government. The country will be the victor. As legislators, that must be our main concern.