Shane Ross (Independent)

I am sick and tired of people in this House paying tribute to the trade union movement, particularly at a time when the latter is bringing the country to the verge of bankruptcy. In view of the fact that next week's budget is vital, it is depressing to see the Government once again jumping to the tune called by the trade unions. Decisions relating to the budget should be made by those who are democratically elected; they should not be made by those outside the Houses who do not have a mandate in this regard. Such decisions should also not be made by those who are threatening to bring the country to its knees by calling a general public service strike. In recent days we were facing the possibility of such a strike happening.

In the face of what could well have been an empty threat on the part of the trade unions this week, the Government, in the words of Deputy Bruton, bottled it. In the light of the number of leaks that have occurred, we are faced with a situation where we do not know what will be the cost of this phantom plan. It appears, however, that what is proposed will fall so far short of the €1.3 million required, the Government is rebriefing everyone and trying to get them to focus on the overall figure of €4 billion. This is because it has given up on achieving the €1.3 billion in savings to be obtained from a reduction in public service pay.

This is not an acceptable way to govern. It is time the Government listened to its backbenchers who spoke out with a certain amount of courage earlier this morning, rather than listening to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which does not have a mandate in the context of dictating what the budget should contain.