Fine Gael: Plans to cease paying benchmarking awards to public servants may isolate some voters but the policy stance was necessary to ensure taxpayers' money was not wasted, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said yesterday.
Meanwhile union leaders welcomed a fresh commitment from the Taoiseach that the €1.2 billion benchmarking pay deal will be honoured in full. Mr Ahern rejected Mr Kenny's claim that paying the increases due to public servants next January would be a "soft option".
The deal had been entered into freely by all parties and there was "no question of renegotiating it", he said. "It is not the soft option. If Enda Kenny doesn't want to pay our public servants well that is ... his policy. That is fair enough."
Mr Kenny, however, said more tangible results must be delivered in exchange for total annual benchmarking costs of €1.2 billion. "Our only vested interest is the public interest. We want to see the public getting first-class public services, and do away with the deep-rooted cynicism about the efficiency of public services."
Party officials say that with around 200,000 public servants affected by benchmarking, compared to a total workforce of 1.8 million, the party will benefit from the policy move.
The issue was the subject of a "lively" debate at the parliamentary party, and was supported by most TDs, according to sources.
Mr Kenny said value for money was a core issue for the party, and called on the Government to publish more details of its agreement with unions on what will be provided in return for benchmarking pay awards.
Unions continued to respond to the party's proposals yesterday, with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions warning that the social partnership structure would collapse if there were any changes to benchmarking.
IMPACT, which represents thousands of public servants, said Mr Kenny had "got it wrong", and insisted the taxpayer had been benefiting from measures such as the eradication of knock-on pay claims and no-strike clauses.
The union's spokesman, Mr Bernard Harbor, said: "We don't accept what Mr Kenny is saying. It is clear that with those kinds of measures, money hasn't been simply handed over to public servants without any benefit to the taxpayer."
Mr Kenny also downplayed suggestions that the proposal could cause a rift with its potential coalition partners, Labour, which has ruled out any changes to benchmarking.
"We will continue to co-operate with Labour Party, and others, with regard to issues such as the Laffoy commission. Our objective is to get rid of this Government."
He said there was a precedent for the deal to be renegotiated as similar measures were taken when previous pay agreements were redrafted in the face of mounting inflation.