Vol. 527 No. 2
50 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the plans he has to request the public service benchmarking body to expedite its work and the publication of a report, having regard to the dispute involving secondary teachers and a number of other threatened disputes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28003/00]
When the public service pay terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness were being negotiated, it was agreed that the public service benchmarking body would be established by 31 December 2000 and would report by the end of 2002.
I am pleased to say that, following subsequent discussions with the public service unions, it was agreed in July last that the benchmarking body should be established straight away and that it should be asked to report by 30 June 2002. Given the scale of the task it is being asked to undertake, this is an extremely demanding target and it would not be practical to expect the body to report any earlier.
Question No. 51 taken with Question No. 36.
Question No. 52 taken with Question No. 39.
