The Minister, when replying to the Second Stage debate, said that the last Government brought in an embargo on recruitment in the Civil Service and that this was responsible for the cutting back on services. I would think that for a Minister of any Government to say that there is an open door for public service recruitment and wage increases is most irresponsible, especially when the cost of public service pay in 1980 is going to run to 50 per cent of the amount of the current budget. Recruitment in the public service was certainly given free rein during 1978 and 1979. If it is not cut back in 1980 there will be a cut-back in services because too much of the amount provided in the Estimates will be eaten up by wage increases and there will be nothing left, as in the case pointed out by Deputy John Bruton in a speech he made about three weeks ago, where the Land Commission, after they had paid wages and everything else for 1980 will have £10 left to buy land. That is not servicing the ordinary people of the country.
Obviously we need a civil service, a well paid civil service; I do not mind saying that. We need an efficient civil service, but we cannot have a level of recruitment into the civil service that unbalances that provided outside the civil service. That is a self-evident fact. To plead, as the Minister appeared to be doing a moment ago, that it was a mark of their good Government that they have recruited heavily into the service and given wage increases does not strike me as responsible or something that any Minister in Ireland or anywhere else in the world should be boasting about. The public service has a role to play. The level of pay in the public service should be high in comparison with that outside it but one cannot unbalance the very delicate level of what the private sector can afford to pay in taxes to support the public service. If that is over-balanced in favour of the public service then we are going to have the type of tax revolt experienced over the last 12 months. It is the level of tax that people are paying that is causing the unrest here and those taxes are being paid to provide services and wages for the public service. If too much is demanded, as I believe is the case now with 50 per cent of the current budget going to pay for the estimate of the current side of the budget, then we are in danger of becoming unbalanced.
Another point made by the Minister was about the criteria which the Taoiseach would apply to the five new appointments he is going to make. Let me put it like this. I certainly should have said that Deputy Seán Calleary is exempted from any criticisms I may have had; I have always found him to be intelligent and concerned and hard working. I am sure the Taoiseach will apply the same criteria to the five new appointments as he did to the appointment of this Government and to the appointment of the Ministers of State before Christmas.
