Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I wish to record my abhorrence at the latest revelation about bonus payments. I commend Senator Coffey for his efforts in trying to get to the bottom of why such bonuses will be paid to people who are, after all, in the public service. The notion of a bonus payment being provided in the public service seems to me to be a dreadful contradiction, a kind of thinking that may have its place in the private sector and even there we have seen the dangers of such bonus culture. However, it is almost impossible to conceive of the two being linked, bonuses and the public service. I wonder if when the Minister for Finance was referring yesterday to the problems that partnership threw up, he was thinking of this particular arrangement as he spoke, although I know the revelations came later than that.

I ask the Deputy Leader to provide some certainty on the introduction of the construction contracts Bill. Senator Quinn was hoping it would be before the House by Christmas but it looks now as though that will not be the case as this is a congested period for legislation. This morning on my way to the House I saw a picket on one of the new service stations on the M1 outside Dromiskin in County Louth. A subcontractor had been driven to desperation to the point that he blocked the entrance to the service station with his diggers and heavy machinery in an effort, I presume, to make the point that he had not been paid. I am curious to know if the Minister for Transport would be willing to comment on whether the contractor who built those service stations demonstrated a clear ability to pay before the contract was awarded. This issue must be addressed through the construction contracts Bill. Certainty of payment is critical and especially in contracts awarded by State agencies.