Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind members of Fianna Fáil that we have had a number of debates in this House on the Defence Forces and we will have them again. Senators McFadden, Craughwell and Wilson also have raised these matters here on the Order of Business. I ask Senator Murnane O'Connor to put things in context. The public sector pay agreement from 2018 to 2020 provides for further increases in pay ranging from 6.2% to 7.4% over the lifetime of the agreement. The first increase was due on 1 January 2018 and has been paid to Defence Forces personnel. A second increase is due on 1 October. By the end of the current public sector pay agreement, the pay of all public servants earning under €70,000 per annum, including members of the Defence Forces, will be restored to pre-financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, levels. It was Senator Murnane O'Connor's party that brought in FEMPI when it was in government. The Senator cannot have it every way. Does she want to come over here to do the reply?