Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, I thank Senator Ahearn for his support for local authorities and for raising this important issue. A legacy of benchmarking was that every citizen who worked for a local authority or agency of the State got incremental rises that were not directly linked to productivity. That legacy has been tackled only in recent years, whereby the progressive social agreements with the Government have really built in productivity. On the Senator’s general point, on dealing with disciplinary issues and ensuring everyone gets the opportunity and support to excel in delivering services to citizens, I absolutely see merit in his proposal. I will raise the matter again with the Department and revert to the Senator on it.