Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I would like to be associated with the commendation of those in communities who are working through difficult weather conditions. They prove that at these most difficult times for the country, there is hope and there are possibilities among the people and we should seek to build on that. I look forward to the debate we will have later today on the EU-IMF package. I agree with Senator Bacik that we need to discuss the alternatives. I believe the alternatives are well known, but what is not understood are their consequences. If we debate the issues, the day will reveal much in that regard.

I also agree with Senator O'Toole's call for ongoing monitoring, by way of debate, of the Croke Park agreement and welcome the measures that are being taken to monitor it. I would like to go further. Given the budget we face and the programme we are discussing this morning, there is a need for those of us in the political system and those at the highest levels of the Civil Service to give real meaning to the term "burden sharing", especially in the context of the cuts that are expected across Departments, in social welfare and through taking more people at the lower level of pay into the tax system. There must be cuts in political costs and the cost of higher paid civil servants. I know this constitutes a breach of the Croke Park agreement, but for the 4,000 to 5,000 civil servants and for Members of both Houses, it is a measure that must be taken if the budget that is to be passed next week is to have any credibility.