Ms Maureen Cronin:

To clarify, my understanding is that the FEMPI provisions are not unwound in the sense that the legislation has not been stood down or taken off the Statute Book, if I am getting the language right. The cuts that were applied, certainly in the HSE, as I know because I was working in the finance operation, have all now been fully unwound since 1 July. In terms of the language, people could be saying the legislation is not unwound but, in fact, the cuts have been unwound and, therefore, we had an expectation. We waited patiently through all the years of cyberattacks, the Covid crisis and so on. You name it, we did it because we believed, foolishly, what we were being told, which is that the FEMPI legislation was the reason the State could not afford this award and that when the FEMPI provisions were over, the matter would be addressed.

This is not a pay claim in that sense. These are wages withheld from us. This is not about negotiating, doing a certain amount and going a certain distance. I am relating to colleagues in the Department of Health who are all on this salary scale. It is beyond belief that they are writing letters to us saying that we are not getting it, but they are on it. I just find that extraordinary.