I wish to ask the Taoiseach about reports which emerged this morning regarding the entitlement of county managers of local authorities to payments of €74,000 on retirement. I understand these payments come from the same severance under which the Government gifted €713,000 to Mr. Dermot McCarthy. I do not need to inform the Taoiseach that the people are suffering real hardship, not just in respect of the outworking of the policies of the previous Administration but also at the hands of his Government. I want him to give a guarantee to the people and this House that he will end the practice of making these outrageous payments. I also want him to explain to the House how it is that an outgoing Secretary General has walked away with such a bonanza and how it might be that, on his watch, managers in local authorities are set to do likewise.

The Taoiseach is aware of the position with regard to the unemployment figures. He is also aware that certain children have returned to school without being able to secure the services of special needs assistants and that there are people on hospital trolleys. However, his Administration, which was supposed to be about change and a new beginning, is standing over the outrage to which I refer. Will the Taoiseach explain how it is that Mr. McCarthy walked away with that cash and how it is that he proposes to reward the managers of local authorities in a similar fashion under the same scheme?

The terms of reference for the appointment of and the severance package relating to the person to whom the Deputy refers, namely, the former Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach who was also Secretary General to the Government, were set by the previous Administration. My term of office began this year. We have made a number of very significant changes already. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is committed to reviewing the terms of appointments for persons appointed to senior positions within the public service. I give the Deputy a commitment in that regard. As already stated, the Government has honoured the package put in place for the former Secretary General at my Department which was put in place by the previous Administration. As the Deputy is aware, the Government is also committed to the introduction of a single pension facility. Information relating to that matter will be published shortly and that information will contain further details of very significant reforms in this area.

There the Taoiseach goes again. It happens on his watch but he is not accountable for it. He knows as well as I that under the pensions legislation it is at the discretion of Government to sign off on added years of service. He knows full well that had he wished to stop that payment to the outgoing Secretary General, he could have done so. The position is the same with regard to the outrageous payments to county and city managers to which I refer. The only conclusion at which we can arrive is that despite the rhetoric from him and his colleagues in Fine Gael and the Labour Party with regard to reform and change, they are, in fact, not serious about these matters. They will hammer clerical officers and ordinary working people. However, like their predecessors, they are unable and unwilling to go after those in the upper echelons of the public and civil service. They have made that abundantly clear. Shame on the Taoiseach and the Government — particularly as they are cooking up massive cutbacks that will hurt ordinary people — for being so coy and duplicitous in respect of the those in the upper echelons of the public and civil service. The Taoiseach should make a commitment to the House that no county or city manager will walk away with a payment of €74,000. He should not sell us that it is Fianna Fáil's fault. The Taoiseach is in charge now.

Hear, hear.

The Deputy still does not recognise the court.

It appears the Deputy is still being affected by the comfort she enjoyed during her party's recent meetings in the Shelbourne Hotel. She conveniently forgot to state that the Government changed the terms of reference in respect of the minimum wage and that, even with the constraints of the financial conditions imposed upon it——

The Taoiseach should answer the question I asked in respect of pensions.

——it reduced the level of PRSI relating to employers in order that they might retain their employees. She seems to forget that the Government reduced the level of VAT which applies to the hospitality sector and thereby provided a direct stimulus which had a positive effect for so many people on the lower end of the salary scale.

The Government paid Mr. Dermot McCarthy over €700,000.

The Deputy and her party colleges conveniently forgot all of those matters when, during their recent meetings, they looked out upon the sublimity of St. Stephen's Green.

What about private pensions?

The Taoiseach conveniently forgot about the working class when he was signing cheques for €700,000.

I can confirm that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will review the structures and conditions——

It is too late.

——that apply to the types of appointments that have been mentioned.

It is pointless.

I repeat that the conditions that apply to the person who has been mentioned were put in place by the previous Government. Commitments were given to that person upon his appointment for that purpose.

Commitments were given to lots of people, not least by the Taoiseach and his party. He can renege on them.

I reject completely the assertion that members of the Government suddenly no longer have the interests of the lower paid, the unemployed or those who are struggling at heart. We very much have those interests at heart. We will prove that as we continue to make changes to the disastrous situation into which this country was led by previous Governments.

The Government will not do that until it has looked after the rich.

That fact will not go away, no more than the facts relating to Deputy Ó Snodaigh's party in many other areas will go away.

That is all the Taoiseach has got.

It is enough.

Mr. Squeaky Clean.

It is not much. What about the Taoiseach's partners in government?

Take it easy now, lads.

God help the people in the North if they were counting on you guys.

I call Deputy Higgins.

The united Ireland party abandoned them.

Joe has to make an announcement.

Tell us what happened on your watch.

What happened on your own watch?

How many banks were robbed on your watch?

The Minister should have a look at the people sitting next to him and their records.

What about Michael Collins's record?

I ask the Deputies to allow Deputy Higgins to speak.

We are being encouraged by the Minister.

You do not need any encouragement.

They are getting used to being parliamentarians, a Cheann Comhairle.