Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have given the Deputy an example of laundry services. It makes no sense to replicate a laundry service in each hospital when one has an efficient laundry service that will deliver clean linen daily because it has a large-scale operation to do so. There will be many such instances. For example, one often has outside caterers in public buildings because it is easier for an outside caterer to come in and operate to scale. These things are done on a case-by-case basis where there is a proper evaluation.

These things are negotiated with the trade union movement, which represents both public and private sector workers. The Deputy's net point is that public sector workers get a decent wage and all private sector workers do not, but that is not true.