Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is a good day for the House in that we are unwinding some of the measures that had to be brought in. We are unwinding them as and when we can and we are cutting our cloth according to what we can afford. This Bill will give legislative effect to the Lansdowne Road agreement. The agreement has been ratified by most, but not all, of the unions. I refer to the TUI, looking at nobody in particular. I welcome the partial restoration that has been provided for. We must proceed with caution. Ireland is being held up as an economic miracle given we have the highest growth rate in Europe. However, we cannot take a flight of fancy and lose the stability, certainty and prudent management of the economic portfolio. The Minister has proceeded with care and caution to ensure stability and economic growth. The tough years everybody faced cannot be undone with the stroke of a pen. The Bill must be read with optimism but also with caution in mind to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

I would like to raise a few issues, which I would like the Minister to examine again. The first is the potential to freeze increments of public servants’ pay, particularly those of teachers. This is a huge bone of contention with teachers. Somebody will have to provide yard supervision and so on. The teachers had agreed to sign up to this.