David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I call for a debate on public services and, as an extension of that, on public service pay. The Government announced in the so-called spring statement that extra money would be made available for public spending, and there are discussions beginning with the trade unions on public sector pay. It is important that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform come to the House to listen to the views of all the parties and the Independents on all of those issues and how we should and could use whatever increased financial capacity we have in a fair way. There is no doubt that low-paid workers in the public sector need more money in their pockets. That can be done in many different ways, through the pension levy and wage increases. We can spend the money fairly.

There is also a need to rebuild our public services. We heard about the cardiology services in one part of the country. In the part of the country the Leader comes from, Waterford, I had a meeting with hospital management last week at which I was told that the clear commitment given by the previous Minister for Health to 24-hour, seven-day cardiology cover in Waterford and the south east was unlikely to happen in the short, medium or even long term. These are areas that we need to invest in. We have to rebuild and have a vision for public services, and they need to be resourced. We need to use whatever capacity we have to do that on the one hand, but also to make sure that low-paid and middle-income workers who disproportionately bore the brunt of seven years of austerity are the ones who benefit, not those at the top, whether in the public or private sector.

We need a debate on these issues. As the Minister prepares to spend €1.5 billion of our money, taxpayers’ money, in the upcoming budget, and given that the Government said in the spring statement that there was to be a new way of doing business, listening to the Opposition and all the rest of it, we should bring the Minister in and have a constructive debate on how to use the resources of this State to bring about fairness, to have a real recovery for all citizens and to rebuild our public services.