Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

Senator Donohoe must not have watched "Tonight with Vincent Browne" last night. I agree wholeheartedly with his analysis. I will not take my lead from the celebrity economists who vie for positions on such shows. The tragedy of the Houses of the Oireachtas during the eight years I have been a Member has been that for far too long the agenda has been set by the media. It was set by the media because of a void in the Houses.

What I would like to hear in this afternoon's debate is not the views constituted on the airwaves but the views of Members as raised by their constituents, which is what I propose doing. I agree wholeheartedly with my colleagues Senators Walsh and Harris that with all of the sorrow and regret at the events of this week comes that which in my opinion we have yearned for for three years, namely, the point of inflection from which we can correct the structures that have failed us over many years. There is no question but that endemic in that must be the payment structure which presides over a €22,000 per month salary for a person in the Department of Education and Skills and the €10,000 and €15,000 per month paid to many others. Senator Walsh spoke about the disgrace that is the tribunals situation and the pay that has been presided over for many years in this regard. We cannot afford to pay ourselves. Salaries of €66,000 for Members of Seanad Éireann and €100,000 for Members of Dáil Éireann is too much. Everybody above that threshold must take less. I do not need the IMF to tell me that. We have been saying this for weeks in this House. Let us do it now as part of the four year plan and ensure provision in this regard is made in the budget, difficult as that may be.

Forget politics and the future of Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, we are speaking now about the future of the people. I do not care about the future of anything else at the moment. People need to be paid less. That is a fact and this needs to happen immediately. We must now focus on the four year plan and the budget, which for technical reasons cannot be brought forward. As quickly as is possible after that, we should deal with the social welfare Bill, the finance Bill and appropriations Bill. We can then get on with the political consensus that is needed and let come what may. In the meantime, let us begin to correct the structures that have failed us. Top of that list is the public sector pay regime that is absolutely unsustainable.