I notice the Government is taking a very tough line on pay demands from workers. I also notice, very interestingly, that it is being joined by great moral upbraiders in this country such as Mr. John Moran, or "Mr. Austerity", in taking this tough line. The view is also shared by the Minister sitting next to the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who claims that if workers keep demanding these pay rises, recipients of social services will suffer. I utterly condemn this approach by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, the Government as a whole and others outside the Government, including former government employees.

The argument has always been put that there is no money available outside the Lansdowne Road agreement until 2018 or the economy will go back to the dark days of austerity. The recent 4% claim by the private sector has thrown another bit of fuel on the furnace of pay demands. Let us remember that Luas drivers in the private sector attained a pay increase of 18% and recently contract cleaners got a pay increase of 10%. A modest 4% rise is being requested. I welcome that request and on this side of the House we welcome that workers have woken up and are beginning to say to the Government and the State that they have taken the pain and cuts for long enough and it is payback time. I also note that profits and wealth have been restored to 2008 levels.

I put it to the Taoiseach that the argument from the Government that workers must show restraint and there can be no pay equality or restoration above the Lansdowne Road pay deals is utter hypocrisy when we have just voted to give ourselves a €5,000 pay increase. We will give gardaí €3,000 in January so what the hell is wrong with giving nurses, teachers and others working at the coal face a decent restoration of pay and pay equality? A pay revolt is taking place and the Government cannot stomach it. We welcome it because it is not a case of private versus public or worker versus social welfare recipient. If the boat lifts for any section of workers, it lifts for everybody. We can cut across the nonsense that the fiscal space does not allow it as the Government has just managed to give €600 million in VAT concessions to the hospitality industry.

I could also mention that the Government said it did not want the €13 billion bitter fruit of Apple, that up to €4 billion is uncollected because of our effective corporation tax rate and that the Government gave loopholes to developers and landlords in last month's budget. Those are just a few examples. The Government does not seem able to restrain rent and insurance costs, but it wants to restrain workers' pay. I put it to the Taoiseach that there is a great deal of hypocrisy in the moral upbraiding of working class people that is going on here. It is time for a real look at the question of pay. Workers spend their money and put it back into the economy. They do not have offshore tax havens. The Taoiseach needs to address this question urgently.

I have listened carefully to what the Deputy has said. I did not hear her mention that the unemployment rate has decreased from 15.2% to less than 8%; that thousands of jobs have been created in recent years; that the Government is proposing to provide 200,000 new jobs throughout the country between now and 2020, with 135,000 of them outside Dublin; and that the best route out of poverty is getting a job and having an opportunity for a career. Her view seems to be that a conveyor belt of borrowed money can pay everybody and we can continue as we did before. I assure her that we are not heading down that road again.

Every single household was affected when the country went over the edge. Over 100,000 people lost their jobs, thousands of people emigrated and the construction sector collapsed. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is trying to keep us moving forward in line with the decisions and sacrifices made by all workers over five or six years to rectify the country. He is managing things well and is not going to lose control over what we have. All the public sector workers referred to by Deputy Smith, or the vast majority of them, accepted sacrifices because of the economic situation we were in. Under the Lansdowne Road agreement, 280,000 public servants agreed on a process for beginning to deal with the financial emergency restrictions. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has outlined that position on many occasions.

While I note the decision of the private sector unions, I would make the point that as a country, we have to keep our costs down and make it easier for people to have jobs and get into employment. That is why we need to continue to focus on dealing with the Low Pay Commission in respect of the minimum wage and, where possible, on reducing the income tax paid by those who are paying 50% tax. We cannot do that unless we have an engine. We are all inundated with requests for hospitals, primary care centres, schools, housing projects and expanded infrastructure throughout the country. We do not have the resources to do all of these things. The only way we can hope to give all our people an opportunity is to have a well-managed economy. That requires choices to be made. Deputy Bríd Smith has said we are taking a very tough line on workers. I respect the work they do. We want to be fair to everybody in the decisions the Government will make. Deputy Bríd Smith does not seem to see that.

I absolutely see it. We welcome every job, but what good is a job to a worker who cannot afford to put a roof over his or her head or pay his or her car insurance? I refer to people who are struggling every day and getting into more and more debt. The Taoiseach has not addressed the fundamental issue of inequality that runs through my argument that Government decisions are allowing others to benefit from the sacrifices of all workers, including nurses, teachers and private sector workers, and all recipients of social welfare. Every measure taken by the Government in the budget allowed giant corporations, vulture funds, real estate investment trusts, developers and landlords, rather than ordinary working people, to benefit from the fiscal space.

The Taoiseach has acknowledged the sacrifices made by working people, but his platitudes will make no difference to nurses in January when they see gardaí getting an additional €3,000 and politicians getting an extra €5,000. Why should they stay back in the shadows, continue to work extra hours for nothing and show restraint in their pay demands? The same thing goes for the private sector workers. The Government does not have a solution for the inequality at the heart of the system. The fiscal space is there, but the problem we have is that the Government has not bothered to broaden it. People are not stupid. They see it. That is why there is a pay revolt, which we welcome, in this country.

As I said, the situation was absolutely dire a number of years ago. While it is still very difficult, some improvements have been made. For example, nurses who are currently being trained and who are qualifying are all being offered permanent contracts. The incremental grades that were removed in the past have been restored. Obviously, the intention of Government is to employ more teachers because of the growing number of primary and secondary school students. As I pointed out yesterday, for the first time in nine years almost €40 million was pumped into the third-level sector as part of a strategy to provide sustainable employment.

As the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has highlighted, anybody earning under €25,000 will have his or her reductions fully restored, and so they should. The priority is the lower paid.

With 10 cent on the minimum wage.

Obviously, middle-income earners have received some benefits in the budget in terms of income tax. Nurses, gardaí, teachers and others are all doing important work for the country.

The Deputy mentioned the benefits of corporations. Obviously, 200,000 people are employed directly by corporations and there are many more besides.

I thank the Taoiseach.

There are also the many people employed in small- and medium-sized enterprises who struggle every day and who are now faced with increased competitiveness because they export to Britain and other locations.

The time is up.

We have to be fair to everybody across the board. That is where the Government will respond collectively and fairly.

I also have to be fair to all.