The Tánaiste will be well aware that what one might call ordinary TDs are linked to principal officers and in terms of their pay there were no recommendations under the benchmarking system. The recommendations for pay increases of between €30,000 and €38,000 for members of the Government were directly linked to the private sector pay increases that the Tánaiste spoke about last week. He stated here on 3 April last that this House should have the courage to change recommendations of independent commissions if it saw fit and if it thought that a wrong should be put right. In the context of his reply to Deputy Bruton last week, when he stated that the Government has not revisited this decision, does the Tánaiste have a personal view, as the Taoiseach elect, on whether it is appropriate for members of the Government to receive pay increases of between €30,000 and €38,000 when every other worker in the country is being asked to accept realistic pay increases and to tighten their belts?

In the context of his words about his political role models, the late Seán Lemass and, indeed, the late Paddy Hillery, does the Tánaiste, on his assumption to the seat of power next week, intend to show political leadership to every worker in the country by rejecting the ministerial pay recommendations? This would send a clear message that he means business in meeting the economic challenge faced by the country and that everybody, including those from the top down, can play their part in that.

The higher remuneration body referred to the pay comparability of officeholders with the lower quartile of the private sector. The references I made last week were in respect of the highest earners who were earning millions of euro that they were obtaining obviously with shareholder approval, which is in compliance with company law but which, in terms of the message it sends — I was simply making the point — was important in the context of pay talks.

On Deputy Kenny's specific question about the Government decision, the decision, to which I was a party, was taken to defer the increase. That decision does not apply to other persons who will receive pay awards under that pay body recommendation. We deferred the increase for a year and then it will be paid over three further years.

The issue here is that the pay talks have begun and a contribution from all sides can be made in the context of those pay talks and those negotiations, but not beforehand.