Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, showed how consensus could not be reached; all he was trying to do was to save his own political life and that of Senator Boyle.

Senator O'Toole raised an important issue, the advertising of public sector jobs. There is supposed to be a moratorium on public sector recruitment, but there has been a plethora of jobs advertised. Who is responsible for this? In Cork a school traffic warden on a busy road cannot be substituted owing to a lack of cover. Senator Cannon has pointed out that front-line services are being hit and there are reductions in service delivery in hospitals and education. How can top jobs in the HSE and the public sector be advertised when we are depriving people of the delivery of vital services? This demonstrates the need for reform. We are either serious about the issue or we are not. We spoke yesterday about bringing workers in the public sector with us. The majority will follow us if they are given leadership, but the advertisements are not doing this.