John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

Like all other speakers, I pay tribute to our fine public service on the quality of the service we receive and its achievements. It has been of benefit in growing the economy.

There is a fine contrast between what is happening in other countries in Europe and what is happening in Ireland where one sees a balanced, reasoned and responsible position being taken by many of the unions.

It was never the case that there would only be upward benchmarking. That was never feasible. I am conscious of the fact that during the good times, some of the pay increases were very significant. I am aware of one case where a person received a 13% increase in wages in one year between benchmarking, the national pay agreement and an increment.

Everybody has contributed to the recent deductions which were mandatory and necessary to get our public finances in order. It surprises me to hear some people complain as if it was something the Government wished to do rather than it being a case of necessity. We do not work or live in a vacuum. We have a very open economy which suffered significantly during the downturn.

It also surprises me to hear certain people ask where the money went. People who can rationalise and work through very complex issues at times seem to be very simplistic in their views on economics. When the money was available, it was paid out from the public purse. It was given in tax relief.

There is this idea that developers have pots of gold which are untouchable. Over the past year to year and a half, we have seen this is not the case. To put it succinctly, where liabilities exceed assets, assets are being sold. The courts have been very strong and have even taken pensions and homes and have ensured all assets are accounted for and sold off. No one is escaping. It has been suggested that people who benefited from the good times are not now paying their way. That simply has not happened.

At one stage, Senator O'Toole quite rightly said the wage agreements were like an ATM. We paid ourselves particularly well. Even this agreement pushes the barrier. The Government has been very forthcoming, straightforward and generous in the proposals, given our fiscal situation. However, it has been proved right. The amount of growth in the economy and the positive steps we have seen in the first quarter of this year and which will be improved on - there is an expected growth rate of 3% in 2011 - indicate that this will be a very manageable agreement. An important point which has been lost is that upward benchmarking will occur as soon as the situation allows. We are all working together.

In regard to those who are still uncertain about the Croke Park agreement, a poll was taken in my local newspaper in County Tipperary on the agreement. The mood among the public is that the Croke Park agreement should be accepted. Some 91% said it should be accepted while 9% said it should not be, although I know it was unscientific and a telephone poll. I suggest that, to a large extent, that 91% reflects the strong support for the Croke Park agreement.

This is the second time Fine Gael has put the country before party politics. It has come on board and has quite clearly said this agreement is worth supporting, which it is. It begs the question as to what the Labour Party thinks it is doing putting party politics before the good of the country for the second time. When we needed to underpin the banks and introduce the bank guarantee, it was strongly opposed by states in Europe. Notwithstanding that, those very states implemented the very policies we proposed. Unfortunately, the Labour Party did not support what was necessary and right at the time and it is not doing so now. Unfortunately, it is speaking out of both sides of its mouth, as it were. The party leader, Deputy Gilmore, said he will not give a view on the agreement while the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, suggested that it is worthy of support.