I call Deputy Cullinane.

On a point of order, I had signalled well in advance of many of the Members who came in but I will take my opportunity now and will raise that matter directly with the Ceann Comhairle later.

Last week, I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of his failure to deal with the issue of equal pay for equal work in the public sector and the impact that is having on services in hospitals and other public services across this State. I gave him the example of a ward that was closed in a hospital in Dungarvan, County Waterford. The director of community services in the HSE has said that the only reason those beds are closed, including rehab beds for stroke victims, is because the hospital cannot recruit nurses. We cannot recruit nurses because of the failure of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to accept even the principle of equal pay for equal work.

The report of the Public Service Pay Commission has now come before Cabinet. Can the Taoiseach clarify for public sector workers that in the context of any new pay talks, he will deal once and for all with the issue of equal pay for equal work, restore the public service to a single-tier structure and enable the recruitment of the staff needed to open beds that have been closed right across the State?

Deputy Ó Caoláin and Deputy Mattie McGrath, on the same issue. I ask them to be brief.

It is not the same issue.

I call Deputy Mattie McGrath.

Dungarvan, of course, has been mentioned by Deputy Cullinane. In Cashel, last week, we all got the same news that wards were closing down - valuable respite beds and recuperation beds. It is putting huge pressure on Waterford, as was mentioned earlier today, and South Tipperary General Hospital.

It is not a new development that we cannot recruit nurses. I am a businessman and if I said to my customers that I cannot recruit staff, it would not stand up. It is merely incompetence in the extreme by the HSE. There are too many managers. Will the Taoiseach relieve some managers of their jobs and hire the nurses? There is a difficulty in hiring them because there is bedlam in the hospitals due to bad management.

I have already referred to the situation in so far as the Department of Health is concerned. The Minister for Health is now in a position with the HSE to offer permanent contracts to every new nurse coming out. The Minister is offering incentives for nurses to come back home. The Minister is offering enhanced educational opportunities for nurses who are currently working. There is a range of incentives to give young trained nurses the opportunity to work at home here.

In respect of Deputy Cullinane's question, the report of the Public Service Pay Commission was approved by Government today for publication. It contains a detailed range of issues that have to be addressed. These will be addressed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in respect of dealing with an extension of the existing Lansdowne Road agreement that would be fair, fiscally sustainable and capable of being met by the economy. Subject to the approval of the Government, which was given today, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will initiate discussions with the public service staff representatives to negotiate that extension to Lansdowne Road in the coming weeks.

All these issues are set out in the Public Service Pay Commission report. It is not a recommending body for pay increases but it does set out some really relevant truths about the situation that has to be faced into by Government here. Deputy Cullinane will appreciate that.