Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yesterday I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of 26 disability and caring-focused organisations which had their money cut in its entirety under the grand scheme for national and community organisations. The impact of this has been devastating on the organisations concerned. Orla Hardiman spoke this morning on behalf of the Neurological Alliance of Ireland. Chris Macey, the chairperson of the organisation, has written to us to state all 11 organisations in the Neurological Alliance of Ireland have lost their money in its entirety. This alliance, which advocates for 700,000 people with neurological conditions, will face closure by the end of the year.

I do not know whether the Taoiseach's saw the clips on RTE yesterday with Christy Clarke from Drimnagh who has Huntington's disease. His wife Anne outlined very succinctly the challenges they face on a daily basis. With €26,000 a year the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland is in the position to provide a service for people with this very degenerative condition. This money has been taken from it. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Chronic Pain Ireland and Multiple Sclerosis Ireland have also been affected, as have other such organisations which, for the past six years, have received funding through the scheme.

Something happened here and there was a recalibration of the scheme. I have done a bit of work on this. The feedback to the organisations is interesting. Pobal had no issue with the organisations themselves and how they went about their governance and work. It seems the criteria were changed, or the feedback was to such effect that one might be a better fit elsewhere or that one did not fit the particular criteria. This sums up the point I was trying to make yesterday. Interestingly, yesterday evening the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, stated to the Members of the House during an exchange that she was not informed about this decision by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Up to now 50% of the recipients of the scheme were disability and health organisations. Overnight this has been changed to one in eight. Clearly the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government decided somebody else should be funding these organisations and they cut them but did not tell anybody in government about it. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, acknowledged this yesterday evening, which goes to the heart of the lack of cross-cutting co-ordination.

Will the Taoiseach ensure full transparency and publish the recommendations made by Pobal to the Minister and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government on who should get funding? Will he also publish the Department's response? The appeals mechanism is somewhat vague because Pobal can only state whether an appeal is valid and it is up to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to find the money. The Government should find €1 million to sort out this mess. Otherwise 25 organisations doing invaluable work in the community will be homeless and without any basic resources to keep going. From a humanitarian perspective will the Taoiseach intervene and do what is right and provide €1 million to underpin the appeals process?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has asked me to ensure full transparency and obtain the Department's response and I will. The funding scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector aims to provide multi-annual funding to national organisations. The funding scheme began in 2011 and was due to expire in December 2013. It was then extended to the end of June this year with a new scheme to commence from 1 July this year with an overall budget of €8 million. During 2013, officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government carried out a review of the scheme, as the Deputy pointed out. This review found the scheme has fulfilled its main objective of providing multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of their services. The review recommended that organisations be required to clearly demonstrate the added value of the work proposed. The effective use of core funding in recipient organisations also requires that proper governance and proper cost control procedures are in place in the organisations.

The new scheme was advertised for applications during the first quarter of the year. Pobal was asked to undertake an assessment of the applications received and this process, from submission of applications to notification of successful applicants, took place during the first and second quarters of the year. As the Deputy knows, Pobal has significant experience in carrying out these assessments.

It is true to say a large number of the applicant organisations sought the maximum level of funding available or, in some cases, an amount in excess of the maximum funding available. As a result the number of organisations which could potentially be funded within the budget available was lower than for previous schemes. The Deputy always asks for more money to be put into something. The beginning of problems in other areas for many years was to throw money at a situation and hope it would go away. To make the funding available to as many organisations as possible in these difficult circumstances the situation was assessed and allocations were announced last week, on 3 July. A total of 157 applications were made and received by Pobal. Of these, three did not meet the basic eligibility criteria. The remaining 154 applications were assessed and appraised against the criteria as outlined in the application guidance. A total of 55 applications were approved for funding for the two-year period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2016.

Pobal has put in place a dedicated team to deal with all inquiries from applicants and provide detailed feedback to applicants, which was the point of the Deputy's first question. There is also an appeals process and Pobal has provided detailed information to applicants on this process. The appeals process is now live and I advise the organisations mentioned by the Deputy and others to use the appeals process because they will receive all of the detailed information from Pobal. Some of the organisations which received money were Barnardos, which received €169,000, and the Children's Rights Alliance, Cherish Limited and Dublin Travellers Education Development, which each received €175,000. All of these have been published. The answer to the Deputy's question is we will ensure full transparency and a departmental response. I suggest to Deputy Martin that organisations such as those he mentioned, which do very good work, have detailed information available to them in regard to the appeal process from Pobal and they should use it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach's answer is not satisfactory in any shape or form.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Of course it is not satisfactory to you.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This is the appeals document. Appeals were meant to be received in May 2014, but obviously the local elections took place and the grants were not announced until after the elections for obvious reasons. The Taoiseach did not want this out before the local selections because there would have been hell to pay if these 26 organisations knew then. At the end of the appeals document it is stated that all Pobal will do is recommend whether an appeal is valid, after which it will go to the Minister and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to make a final and binding decision.

A total of 26 organisations are affected and they are all in one sector, namely, disability and health. The Irish Deaf Society has been affected. It must close its Deaf Forward advocacy services because of this. All the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland would need to keep going is €25,000.

That is what we are talking about here. Someone somewhere took a decision to take out these organisations in recalibrating the criteria. They told nobody in the Department of Health. The former Minister, Deputy Hogan, did not tell the former Minister for Health or the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who has responsibility for disability, which is a basic thing to do in terms of crosscutting issues and co-ordination of disability. She said last night that she was not told. It is a mess. It is more than a mess; it is very wrong to do it to organisations.

This is a very low level of funding in any event. It is money whose multiplier effect is important. In some instances, it enables them to put stamps on the envelopes and keep an office going. It affects organisations such as Chronic Pain Ireland, the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland, the Migraine Association of Ireland and Muscular Dystrophy Ireland. This needs ministerial intervention. The Taoiseach should get the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, around the table in order to take these organisations out of their agony and give them the prospect of closure. It needs to be sorted out before the end of the month to ensure €1 million is available either through the appeals or through the Department of Health.

Something happened in the dynamic between Pobal and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that resulted in the decision to take these organisations out and to leave somebody else look after them. Somebody dropped the ball and nobody is looking after them now. It is unfair and wrong, and the Taoiseach should intervene to sort it out.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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It is a criminal act.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Deputy will agree that in the allocation of public money for any organisation, be it dealing with sensitive challenged issues such as this or otherwise, there is a requirement for proper governance.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not say there was not.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, hold on a second.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No one said there is any issue with governance.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I have already informed the Deputy that there is a live process for appeals by these people.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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There is not much live in it with €8 million gone.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am informed that Pobal has provided applicants with detailed information about the process of lodging an appeal. Some 155 applications were received and there is a fund of €8 million. Three did not meet the basic criteria and Pobal assessed these. The list including amounts received has been published. The Deputy has a basic philosophy of have enough money to give to everybody.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No, that is what the Government is doing. It is giving GP-visit cards left, right and centre now. We are talking about €1 million here.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It is the same philosophy that applied across the health boards for years-----

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Where is the new Minister of State with responsibility for equality?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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-----where Fianna Fáil forked out money it never had to deal with all kinds of organisations.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach can bury his head in the sand if that is what he wants to do.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am not suggesting that any of these organisations did not and do not have a very good contribution to make.

A Deputy:

Why did the Government do away with them?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There were 155 applications. The €8 million fund-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Were representations made by anybody on behalf of some of the organisations? Was there interference?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, Deputy, please. We are way over time. Would the Deputy please-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach might check that.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The appointment of two Ministers with responsibility for the Gaeltacht who do not have functioning Irish is a backward step. I make no criticism of either Minister. I have worked with the Minister of State, an Teachta McHugh, who has played a very positive role as Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I am sure that both he and an Aire, an Teachta Heather Humphreys, are very capable representatives. Mar sin, nílim ag tabhairt amach faoi na Teachtaí seo go pearsanta.

However, the appointments and the manner in which the Department has been reorganised provide further evidence of the downgrading of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht that has been the mark of this Government. Dhá bhliain ó shin, bhrúigh an Rialtas an Bille Gaeltachta tríd an Dáil, cé nach raibh aon duine sásta leis. An cuimhin leis an dTaoiseach gur shiúl an Freasúra amach as an Dáil nuair a chuaigh an Bille tríd. Freisin, bhí na grúpaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta thar a bheith míshásta leis an mBille.

Gaeltacht communities have been stripped of their right to democratic representation on Údarás na Gaeltachta. There is another quango which is not representative of the people of the Gaeltacht areas.

I Mí na Nollag seo caite, d'éirigh an Coimisinéir Teanga ag an am, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, as a phost. Dúirt sé ag an am sin go raibh sin déanta aige mar nach raibh sé sásta le polasaí teanga an Rialtais. Dúirt sé go raibh an Stát ag obair in éadan na ndualgas a bhí air faoi Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla.

The Taoiseach's decisions have increased the marginalisation of the Irish language and the public administrative system. The decision to merge the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga with the Office of the Ombudsman and the insufficient resources are further evidence of the disregard the Government has for the Irish language.

Tá grúpaí Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta dearg le fearg faoi seo. Labhair mé leis an Taoiseach cúpla uair cheana faoi na daoine óga agus aosta atá ag iarraidh a gnáth saol a mhaireachtáil trí Ghaeilge. Tá a fhios ag an Rialtas gur ionann tír le teanga agus tír le hanam. In light of the criticism of the Taoiseach's appointments, will he now reconsider the allocation of these posts and ensure that at least one of the two Ministers with responsibility for the Gaeltacht areas has working Irish?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will respond in English so that everybody will understand this. What the Deputy has just said is typical of the reasons that we are not as bilingual as we should be. The Deputy is suggesting that neither the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, nor the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, is capable of learning our native tongue or relearning it as the case may be. I think it is an insult from the Deputy, as leader of his party, to make that kind of suggestion. I strongly believe that-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Cá bhfuil na hAirí?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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-----the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, by their example of immersing themselves in the language to be conversationally fluent will demonstrate to a great number of people throughout the country that it is quite easy to learn the Irish language. Beidh an líofacht acu tar éis tamaillín bhig. I advised the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, to go and take a refresher course in Oideas Gael in Gleann Cholm Cille, because he has the language inside him, but it is rusty.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Like the Taoiseach, himself.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Is it not a good thing to say, "I am as Irish as anybody else, but my líofacht in my native tongue is not at the proficiency that it should be, but I'm going to learn it"?

I remember the former Minister of State, Mr. Carey, from County Clare, whose Irish was long gone, went back and relearnt it. I remember the former Minister of State and Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the late lamented Jim Tunney, answering a question from that seat from the former Deputy, Jim White from Donegal. Jim White had no Irish and he was of a different religion. There was a row in this House about religious discrimination and the Irish language, which Deputy Adams is not suggesting now.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I know the Deputy's interest in the language and he knows mine. I want him to understand that the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, will prove and demonstrate that he will be able to come into this House or anywhere else and engage conversationally as Gaeilge with the líofacht that it deserves.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is the most novel scheme for learning Irish I have ever heard.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry. This is a serious issue.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a great scheme: become a Minister and learn Irish.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Adams said that the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga has been absorbed into another entity. I make the point to him that the Government reversed that decision and left the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga with its neamhspleáchas, with adequate staff and adequate funding because of the extraordinary work done by an iar-Aire Stáit, an Teachta Donncha Mac Fhionnlaoich. Níor chuir an Teachta ceist ar sin as Gaeilge.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I think the Taoiseach missed the point quite deliberately.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will you all stay quiet please-----

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Where did Deputy Adams learn his Irish?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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-----including Deputy Mattie McGrath, who consistently interrupts?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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If you cannot stay quiet, please leave the Chamber.

A Deputy:

Blame Mattie again.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Chuir an tAire ceist orm cén áit in ar fhoghlaim mise mo Ghaeilge. Fuair mé mo Ghaeilge i gcampa Cheis Fada, nuair a bhí mé faoi ghlas ag na Gallaibh. Sin an áit in ar fhoghlaim mé mo Ghaeilge. Fuair mé an Ghaeilge fosta nuair a chaith mé tamall gairid sna blocanna H. Ach chaill an Taoiseach an míniú atá leis an gceist.

There has been a whole series of cuts in services to the people of the Gaeltacht areas and to parents and children who want to be educated and live their lives through Irish. Of course, anybody can learn Irish.

Táim ag déanamh mo dhícheall é sin a dhéanamh agus táim i mo sheasamh anseo ag labhairt as Gaeilge achan lá. Táim ag déanamh mo dhícheall. Mar adúirt mé, nílim ag tabhairt amach faoi Theachta Dála Heather Humphreys nó an Teachta McHugh go pearsanta.

There are two Ministers of State in this Department. One has Irish and no responsibility for the Gaeltacht, and one does not have Irish and has responsibility for the Gaeltacht. Here is the rub. When a delegation from the Gaeltacht comes in to meet the Minister, they will not be able to converse with the Minister and have a working meeting with the Minister in their own language.

That is the problem and they have this right. Is cearta sibhialta atá i gceist anseo. Is ceist an-tábhachtach í seo.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, Deputy, we are over time.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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There is a civil right whereby a person who wishes to receive a public service as a citizen of this State and a resident in a Gaeltacht area should be able to do that.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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However, such people cannot do that. This is one reason the Coimisinéir Teanga resigned.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy, we are over time.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It was because the people from the Gaeltacht were denied that right. Is the solution not obvious? There are two Ministers of State in this Department, one with Gaeilge but with no responsibility for the Gaeltachtaí and the other without Gaeilge but with responsibility for the Gaeltachtaí. Tús maith, leath na hoibre.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Táim ag dul go dtí an Bhruiséil inniu. Ní bheidh mé in ann cuid de na teangacha ansin a thuiscint, ach tá córas aistriúcháin ar fáil. Tá córas aistriúcháin againn anseo freisin. Má thagann daoine isteach ón nGaeltacht chun caint leis an Aire, beidh sise in ann úsáid a bhaint as an gcóras sin leis an gcomhrá a thuiscint. Beidh an tAire Stáit i láthair freisin.

Bhí mé ag éisteacht inné leis an méid a bhí le rá ag an Teachta Éamon Ó Cuív. Tháinig sé isteach anseo agus dúirt sé nach bhfuil Gaeilge ar bith ag an Aire agus gur ceart go mbeadh Gaeilge ag an Aire. Bhí a chol ceathrar féin anseo le hocht mbliana mar Aire Gaeltachta, Síle, mo chara mór, de Valera, agus ní raibh focal Gaeilge ar bith aici. Ní dhearna sí iarracht í a fhoghlaim ach an oiread.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Séard atá mise ag rá, Gerry - gabh mo leithscéal, a Theachta, ná-----

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Tá "Gerry" maith go leor.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Nuair a thagann an Dáil thar n-ais tar éis an tsamhraidh, beidh an tAire Stáit go líofa sa Ghaeilge agus beidh tuiscint ag an Aire ar an nGaeilge.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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An mbeidh teist déanta aige?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Ná bíodh aon imní ar iad siúd atá ag teacht isteach ón nGaeltacht go dtí an foirgneamh seo. Beidh tuiscint mhór ag an Aire agus ag an Aire Stáit faoi chéard atá i gceist.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Bhí sé mícheart d'Fhianna Fáil é sin a dhéanamh ag an am sin agus tá sé mícheart ag an Rialtas é a dhéanamh anseo arís.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Joan Collins.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Who will set the exam?

A Deputy:

Will it be a FÁS course?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Finian McGrath might do it.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Collins, please.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Tá an Ghaeilge ag an Teachta Martin-----

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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A Cheann Comhairle, may I wait until they finish speaking to each other across the Chamber?

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Yes, would the Deputies please mind? While I know they are going on their summer break-----

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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We are all going to the Gaeltacht.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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-----they should avoid being giddy for another couple of hours and should allow Deputy Collins to ask a question. They should not worry as they will all get their break.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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I could have raised many issues today such as, for example, the United Nations Human Rights Committee's meeting on Ireland held yesterday, the massacre of hundreds of men, women and children in Palestine and, obviously, the withdrawal of funding for the neurological organisations. However, I am compelled to raise again some of the issues regarding the dispute in Dublin city between the waste management company, Greyhound, and its workforce, which now has been locked out for more than four weeks as this dispute is now in its fifth week. I understand there has been communication between the workers' union, SIPTU, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with a view to arranging a meeting to discuss the serious problems in the waste management industry as a whole.

I wish to repeat the point I made during Leaders' Questions two weeks ago, which is that there is an urgent need for an inquiry into pay and working conditions, issues of training, health and safety, maintenance of vehicles, storage of waste and general compliance with environmental regulations and local authority by-laws. This inquiry must involve all the agencies tasked with supervision, namely, the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, the local authorities, the Irish Waste Management Association and the workers. Is the Taoiseach aware whether this is going ahead and whether this is being driven by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation? That Minister must now examine seriously the need for an employment rights order for this industry. There is intense competition between the companies to cut costs and maximise profits at the expense of wages and proper working conditions in the drive towards competition for the market. If employers get their way, this will become a minimum wage, minimum rights industry with huge implications for health and safety for those working in it. Moreover, a crucial service for public health and the environment is in the hands of cowboy employers.

Does the Taoiseach not consider it to be deplorable that in a modern society, 100 years after the infamous 1913 Lock-out in Dublin, an employer, namely, Greyhound, is prepared to use the same brutal methods to try to crush a unionised workforce? This was a well planned and organised assault by the Buckley brothers by bringing in security on the day and by using so-called agency workers. One of the so-called agencies in-sourced hired operatives at the minimum wage of €8.65 per hour and the main scab organiser, Calin Bogdan, is not a licensed employment agent.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, we do not mention names in the Chamber.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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He deserves to have his name mentioned.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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He also happens to have his company address in the same building as Greyhound. I ask the Taoiseach to call on the employer to end the lock-out, reinstate the workforce, withdraw the demand of a pay cut of 35% and to engage positively with the workers' unions in negotiations.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Clean up the mess.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Deputy Joan Collins undermined the council.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Collins for her question. I recommend that everybody involved in this dispute should avail of the facilities of the well-tried State mechanisms for dealing with disputes and bringing about a resolution. I hope this can happen.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Send them all to the Gaeltacht.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There has been some commentary about NERA's involvement in this company and its employees. While Deputy Joan Collins is aware the authority acts utterly independently in these matters, it is its practice to instigate investigations where there are allegations of breaches of employment rights legislation, as would be appropriate for it to do. There have also been calls generally for a Government task force to investigate the operation of the sector as a whole. I am aware that in his response yesterday to the general secretary of SIPTU, the Minister noted that being mindful that the need for proper compliance with legislation is in the workers' and the wider public interest, he is seeking reports from the relevant agencies under his Department, that is, the Health and Safety Authority, the National Employment Rights Authority, the National Consumer Agency, the Competition Authority and the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, and on the operation of the wider sector itself. This work has commenced and will be concluded as a matter of some urgency.

In respect of State workers, under the Employment Agency Act 1971, the employment agency must hold a licence if it is to carry on its business and NERA's workplace relations licensing section is responsible for issuing employment agency licences. It is a matter for NERA to oversee the operation of the employment legislation in this regard. SIPTU has written to the Minister alleging that a company is providing agency workers to Greyhound, which is displacing its members and sustaining the lock-out and that the company in question is not registered on the list of licensed employment agencies. That is a matter for the relevant section in NERA to deal with that.

Obviously, the former Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, launched a consultation paper in November 2013. It received 91 submissions which are being considered and evaluated. In the immediate term, I urge everybody concerned to avail of the facilities of the State mechanism for dealing with this, in order that the dispute might be brought to an end.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his reply but there is a certain urgency to this because those workers have been locked out for five weeks without a cent in their pockets. All Members of this House will rise on Thursday in the knowledge that their wages will be paid into their bank accounts on Friday week and again in August. These workers have no sense of security that they will go back into the Labour Court. It is where they want to go and I seek a strong indication from the Taoiseach that he is calling on Greyhound to enter into the Labour Relations Commission talks without the threat of a 35% wage cut and that those workers are back at work. That is where they should be as they want to do their work. That is what must be done for this to go ahead.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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The Taoiseach should be coming out loud and clear that these actions by Greyhound are deplorable. The workers are waiting, able and ready to go into talks again and to get their jobs back. That must be driven from the Greyhound management to allow them back into the workforce.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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It is a pity the Deputy undermined the council system.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
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Where was the Deputy?

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Deputy should support the Greyhound workers.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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The Deputy is a disgrace.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Support the workers.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I support the Greyhound workers and was out on the picket line with them last week.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Labour Party does not support workers any more.

Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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I was out on the picket line with them last week.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Labour Party got its answer from the workers in the local elections throughout the country.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please. This is not a shouting match.

A Deputy:

Yes, it is.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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We did not start it.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Who finished it?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Joan Collins has raised a fundamentally important point here, which is that workers are without wages for five weeks. I acknowledge that Deputy Dowds met the workers last week. This dispute must be resolved but it will not be resolved with the current impasse. The way it can be resolved is to use the mechanisms of the State that are available to both sides. The Government desires a resolution and the way it must be resolved, like all other disputes, is to use these mechanisms and come to an agreement in order that work can be under way again and workers can receive their wages.

I ask everybody concerned on both sides to use these facilities. That is what they are for and they have been tried and tested in very serious cases over the years and have always proved beneficial in bringing about a conclusion. I suggest strongly that they be applied. The licensing section of the National Employment Rights Authority will deal with the allegation concerning unlicensed operations as such issues are the responsibility of NERA.

I hope this matter can be brought to a conclusion. It is not good that workers have been left without wages for five weeks. The dispute needs to be settled and can be settled and the mechanisms of the State will be beneficial in achieving that.