Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for introducing this legislation. This relates to the unwinding of FEMPI legislation and cuts that have been put in place since 2012. I welcome this legislation and hope we can restore full pay and pensions to the people who took many hits over the past ten years. It is well deserved for the people who took the cuts and made sacrifices for the whole nation. I congratulate this and the previous Government, along with the various Ministers across the divide, on taking the nation back to where it is today. We have almost full employment now when we had close to 17% unemployment at one stage. Many sacrifices were made by the people of the State and they deserve credit. I wish the Minister of State well with the legislation.