Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I am coming to the question. That Taoiseach increased the profile and the staffing of the public sector. How can the Senator still say he was a great Taoiseach?

When are we going to have this real debate about the public sector? The public servant I know has not made a fortune and is suffering like everyone else. He or she is in negative equity and there are families whose children are unemployed or have emigrated. While their jobs might be secure, they have taken a pension levy and a pay cut. Let us focus on the top tier of the public sector which has been rewarded by the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil ideology of bonuses and so on. Let us start with reform of the public sector as proposed by Fine Gael. It was Fine Gael, the Senator may recall, that predicted in 2004 that benchmarking would be the disaster it has proved to be. Let us not create a social class war in this country. As Senator Dearey said, small and medium-sized enterprises are in trouble. The public sector is in trouble. It does us no good to come into this Chamber and ask that the public sector be hit yet again. As a proud member of a public sector union, I will not put up with it. Reform is on the agenda, and the teachers' unions stepped up to the plate regarding the Croke Park deal.