After yesterday's ballot results from SIPTU on the Croke Park II agreement it is now very clear it has been rejected by the membership of trade unions throughout the country. Many union members never believed in the first instance that this was a fair deal and they were not persuaded by the Government. We have been pointing out to the Government, and putting down markers with regard to the strategy it adopted, the disproportionate attack on and unfairness of the deal to front-line workers in particular. For some reason, health sector workers seemed to have been sidelined and shafted from the very beginning as were workers in the justice arena.

The Government's strategy was essentially a mixture of divide and conquer, pitting unions against unions, with a little bribery at the end with a €300 million honeypot for a range of side deals with various unions, the details of which have never been publicised. When the soundings were negative towards the end, basic intimidation and threats were used with the Government stating if the unions did not vote "Yes" it would go ahead with legislation to introduce an across the board 7% cut. The mixture and combination in this strategy was clearly wrong and misfired significantly, and union members did not take well to the threats. The result is a rejection of the deal. A message has been sent to the Government by public sector workers.

Notwithstanding the cynical strategy deployed to get the deal over the line and having approached it more as a numbers game than anything else, does the Government have a plan B? The Minister responsible, Deputy Howlin, seemed to be shell-shocked on "Six-One" yesterday in his response to the deal. He spoke about telephone calls. For many people on the ground there was no surprise that the deal went down. The only surprise today is that Ministers seemed to have been surprised and taken aback by the result. Surely the Taoiseach must have factored into his thinking the possibility the deal would be rejected and has a plan B. If he does not, do we take it the threats, utterances and articulation by the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, that he would go ahead anyway - which the Taoiseach also stated earlier in the process - were never meant and it is not now on the agenda? Will the Taoiseach outline his plan B given the outcome of the vote on Croke Park II?

I will outline the truth of the situation for Deputy Martin. Let me assure him and everybody else the Government is absolutely united behind the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in his declaration and negotiations that we need to find €300 million in extra savings from payroll this year and €1 billion by 2015. There is absolute unity of purpose in Government towards achieving this objective. I recognise the result of the ballot yesterday. I point out to Deputy Martin the mandate given by the Government to the Minister, Deputy Howlin, was to open negotiations and discussions in a full, open, truthful and constructive fashion and the Labour Relations Commission came forward with its proposals. These proposals were based on a fair and equitable contribution from the public sector given that 35% of expenditure is allocated to public sector payroll and pensions. This was done specifically to defend front-line services and to keep a very clear view of the progress the Government has made with the people in terms of the path we have been following towards recovery of our economic independence and towards achieving credibility internationally and growing our own economy so we can provide jobs for our people.

The Government will now consider the outcome of the ballot and its consequences. The bottom line is absolutely clear. We must and will find €300 million of extra savings this year from payroll and this is the challenge the Government now faces. Obviously we will reflect on this. Last Sunday, Deputy Martin's spokesman equivocated with regard to €60 million out of the €1 billion in savings between now and 2015. When Fianna Fáil had the opportunity on two occasions it imposed unilateral cuts without any discussion. At least the Government entered a very open, consultative and truthful situation with the public sector and gave it the time and space to make its decision in the proper fashion. It has made its decision. The arithmetic does not change and neither does the bottom line. We need to find €300 million of extra savings this year from within payroll and the Government is absolutely united behind the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in achieving these because they are necessary for our country and the broader impact of the challenge people have faced throughout the country to clean up the mess we inherited.

It is very clear the Taoiseach's plan B is to reflect. I find it extraordinary there is no more detail emanating from him on the scenarios he must have factored in. In the Irish Independent on 13 April, when the news from the teachers' unions was not good, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, spoke about a 7% cut across the board.

Did Deputy Martin read the article?

I welcome that the Government is united and that Fine Gael and the Labour Party are united on this issue. Some elements of the Labour Party have been speaking out of both sides of their mouths-----

Deputy Martin would not know anything about that.

Resist the temptation.

-----on this issue so it is welcome to hear a unity of purpose exists. Several weeks ago the Taoiseach was asked in the Dáil about three elements of legislation committed to by the Minister, Deputy Howlin, which he stated would be implemented irrespective of a vote.

The Taoiseach was asked yesterday in the House if that legislation would be coming forward as regards aspects of this particular deal, but he equivocated on that and did not give a straight answer.

The Taoiseach talked about transparency, but the bottom line is that in recent weeks our spokesperson on this issue has been seeking full transparency on the €300 million of side deals that were negotiated with different unions to sweeten the deal after the LRC package had been announced, with a view to trying to get the numbers over the line.

The Deputy published none of them.

We saw this from the front-line workers.

This is question time.

We have no idea what kind of nods and winks were sent in different directions to try to get the votes over the line. The Taoiseach played an old-fashioned, traditionalist numbers game to try to get this deal over the line and it failed spectacularly.

I must ask the Deputy to resume his seat.

It was a combination of divisive politics and a bit of bribery and intimidation at the end, but it misfired spectacularly.

I would remind Deputies that this is Leaders' Questions, not statements.

It seems to me that Deputy Martin has passed through some road to Damascus down in Cork. When he had the opportunity and responsibility to be truthful and open with the people of this country, he denied public access to any letters of clarification issued by governments of which he was a member. He shredded all the information in so far as benchmarking was concerned years ago.

And you wanted more.

Unlike the situation that the Minister, Deputy Howlin has set out here, he published the clarifying letters for those unions and their representatives that stayed in at the talks, in respect of those in front-line services, such as firefighters, prison officers and members of the Defence Forces.

Divide and conquer.

The Taoiseach tried to buy votes.

I would have thought that someone of Deputy Martin's experience would at least allow an opportunity for the LRC to announce formally the result of the ballot that was taken. That is the very least one would expect from him but he does not even seem to recognise that. I have set out the Government's position which is absolutely clear. The people have faced up to difficulties in recent years because of the wreckage left behind by Deputy Martin's party. To a great extent, we have recovered our international economic credibility and reputation. Everybody has contributed to that. We have a challenge in getting €300 million extra of savings from within the payroll this year and €1 billion by 2015. That is the challenge the Government now has to face. It is an issue we will deal with from within the payroll. The Government is absolutely united with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in declaring the truth of this matter. All of those who voted - some voted for and some voted against-----

More voted against it.

The Deputy recognises this, but the party on his right-hand side has a different view. Before the last budget, they put forward a proposition of €3 billion of extra taxes which would have delivered a lethal injection to the Irish economy, driving thousands of jobs out of the country.

What is the Taoiseach's plan to deal with it? That is the question.

The workers did not believe the Taoiseach. They voted against it.

Please.

We must follow a credible fiscal plan to retrieve our economic independence, restore our public finances to good health, and continue to make changes that bring about greater efficiency and a greater effect for front-line services.

Is it an action plan?

A jobs action plan.

These discussions were fair, equitable and brought about a contribution from the public sector which is necessary as part of the overall sector to deliver €300 million extra savings this year and €1 billion by 2015. It is in the interests of the people and the country's reputation generally. The Government will now sit down in the coming period to deal with that particular issue.

The purpose of Leaders' Questions is for Opposition party leaders to ask serious questions on serious matters-----

And to expect a reply.

-----and for the Taoiseach to reply. There are people in the Public Gallery who would like to hear the questions and replies. There are also people watching on television who would like to hear the replies. All these smart-alec remarks and mumbling are not impressing anybody, so Deputies should give people a chance to listen to what is being said. This is a very important issue and people want to hear the answer.