Pay rises if Fine Gael back in power, says Varadkar

Health Minister Leo Varadkar says a second Fine Gael term in government would allow for a wide-ranging recovery including pay increases in the private and public sectors.

His comments came as Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said public sector workers could only expect full restoration of pay cuts when the country returned` to full employment.

However, Mr Varadkar last night also warned there should be no auction politics in the lead up to the next general election as he took a swipe at promises by other political parties.

Speaking after he and Senator Catherine Noone were chosen to contest Dublin West for Fine Gael in the election, he chose to attack his political opponents.

“Fianna Fáil might have some new faces but you can be sure it’s the same old Fianna Fáil ready to bring us back to the politics of strokes, favours, parochialism, boom and bust,” said Mr Varadkar.

He claimed Sinn Féin could not be trusted as it would not discuss its past. “As historians can attest, Sinn Féin as a political party had nothing to do with 1916, and we need to make sure that they have nothing to do with Government in the Republic of Ireland in 2016 either,” he said

Mr Varadkar had equally critical comments to make about Independent politicians.

“Ex-Fianna Fáil, Ex-Fine Gael, Ex-Labour and Ex-PD. They agree on nothing as a bloc. The ULA, the United Left, the Triple A, PBPA – it’s reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch.”

However, Mr Varadkar said a second term for his party would see a recovery in towns, cities, rural areas and suburbs. “By making sure that the economy keeps growing we can also have modest increases in pay and pensions and other allowances,” he said.

However, mistakes of the past could not be repeated, he told party members at the selection convention:

Mr Varadkar had words of praise for Enda Kenny.

“But the next government needs that mix of idealism and realism embodied by [Michael] Collins 100 years ago, and today by our Taoiseach Enda Kenny.”

Meanwhile, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton yesterday said public sector workers could only expect full restoration of pay cuts when full employment returned. He said reversing pay cuts now would take cash “out of the pockets of others”.

With Public Expenditure Reform Minister Brendan Howlin set to open talks with unions on ending the emergency legislation that cut pay next month, Mr Bruton said the interests of other private sector workers could not be ignored.

“Yes it is time to look at pay but we also have to temper that with the other pressures that we have to deliver,” he told RTÉ.

The Government aims to achieve notional full employment by 2018.

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