Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My God, when one hears it talking about there being no increases for the public service, bearing in mind that it introduced the universal social charge and the pension levy, and about morale in the public service and there being no reform, one wonders what the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements were about. The public service made significant reforms through these agreements. Pay increases will be modest because the Government has managed the economy in a prudent manner and will continue to do so. The increases, if and when they are granted, will be achieved through negotiation, as always. I can assure the Senator that nothing will be done that will damage the economy.

Senator Paul Coghlan referred to the spring economic statement and called for a further debate on it. I will certainly try to have the Minister in the House again to discuss the matter.

Senator John Crown referred to problems in the health service. When the Government took office, the waiting lists only included people who had seen consultants and were awaiting operations. The Government has introduced a more transparent system, under which people who are waiting to see consultants are included in the waiting lists. That is why they are so large and unacceptable. I asked the Minister to come to the House today, as requested, but he is not in Dublin today. Therefore, I cannot accede to the Senator's request. However, I will ask the Minister to come to the House at a later date. The Senator was also correct to ask why consultants were not taking up the hundreds of posts vacant in the health service. Why do we have to seek locums? Why are the positions not being filled? This is a very serious question, to which we need an answer. As I stated, I cannot accede to the request that the Minister come to the House today.

Senator Paul Bradford referred to the public service. I addressed that matter in my reply to Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill.

Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú referred to an incident of which I was not aware. He is correct that there are many people trying to undermine the Garda. We have seen umpteen cases in recent times. There is certainly a danger with social media in the sense that people are defamed regularly. Something will have to be done about cyber-bullying, an issue which has been mentioned by Senator Lorraine Higgins and others. I hope the Government will make proposals in this regard. We have all been inundated with e-mails asking us to stop the Labour Party from introducing legislation on cyber-bullying as it might prevent freedom of speech. That is a load of rubbish. The matter needs to be addressed. I agree with the sentiments of Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú in this case.