Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I side with Senator Conway-Walsh. A good job was done in negotiating the agreement but I was president of the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, when the first FEMPI was negotiated. It was tough going. Croke Park II collapsed and we went on to make the Lansdowne Road agreement. There was always deep-seated resentment at the fact that the FEMPI legislation brought in punitive measures for those who did not sign up to the agreement. We have moved to a point where there is no need for punitive measures now. Almost all the unions are on side and those which are not in full agreement are in the tent. I accept what the Minister of State and his colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, have a Government to run and a country to fund but I feel that section 22 and this section are too much and there is no need for them.

I take the Minister of State's points and accept what he is saying, but from a trade union point of view many of the retired people have made a huge issue of what they referred to as "Murphyism" in the first FEMPI, where people had to declare they were not in a particular union to gain any benefits. I do not see this changing today but I support Senator Conway-Walsh.