Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I wish to make two essential points on the legislation. Fine Gael has supported the economic discipline that is required to get our public finances in order. It has encouraged action to be taken on the expenditure front. On the specific proposals which are the subject of this Bill, Fine Gael produced an alternative budget which was fairer and more even-handed in regard to public sector pay.

There is one observation I would make on this issue. There are many people in the public service who considered that some cutback in remuneration was going to be part of the common effort to resolve the public finances. There was a realisation by many that this was something that would have to happen. However, that had to be done in a fair and even-handed way. Apart from that, what the Government did was to pillory the public sector and the people in it. There was essentially a media blitz denigrating people in the public sector, their work and their remuneration. There was similar adverse media comment on the pay of trade union leaders and so on.

It is the build-up to the decision, the delay in taking it and biting the bullet on what needed to be done to get the public finances in order which has created more of the problem than the actual decision itself. It has been done in a ham-fisted way. There was too much procrastination. The Government should not be surprised, therefore, if its decisions have got up the nose of public servants who are contributing to this economy and providing necessary public services.

The second point I want to make is in regard to the measures contained in the Bill, which are part of that wider economic and budgetary discipline which has been agreed with the European Union. The other element to this measure, which is collateral in a way, is the NAMA legislation. The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, was in the House back in November when we debated that legislation, which was broad framework legislation in regard to the bailout of our banks. The issue is that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, confirmed in a question I raised with him that details of NAMA had to be formally notified to the European Commission and approved before it could enter into effect. I asked the Leader a number of times when the formal notification to the Commission would take place in regard to NAMA and whether that notification would be similar to what we were informed was in the business plan for NAMA back in October.

As the Minister of State participated in the debate on NAMA, I ask him where we are on that matter in terms of notification to and approval by the European Commission. It is a fundamental question because while the measures contained in the budget are very significant, the most significant measure of economic policy to be adopted by the Government, which could bankrupt this country, is the legislation which we are not speaking about today, namely, the NAMA legislation. We should at least be transparent as to what exactly is happening in regard to that important legislation which was approved in November.