Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I accept the Deputy's positive comments in his response to that matter. While the Deputy may say pay is not the issue, at the heart of the dispute is the reduction in public sector pay. I would hope that we can return to the reform agenda with the public sector unions. We have had very responsible engagement with them in the past and I have no doubt that the people who work in the health service are well motivated by patient concerns, want to do the best for their patients and would want to see the kinds of reforms I mentioned earlier implemented as soon as possible. If we can return to dialogue - hopefully that can happen soon - I hope we would be in a position to have that positive agenda agreed.

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