Mr. Paul Reid:

I will ask Mr. Woods to comment because he is directly involved in this but I have spoken earlier about the role the medical scientists have played. It is always a breakdown when strikes happen and I have been involved in industrial relations for all my career, but we are engaging in the WRC. I would not agree that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is not aware or that we may not have communicated through the Department of Health or with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the seriousness of the issues. We would collectively be aware of the impact of this so we would have represented that, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is well aware.