Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

On the same issue, what has happened in my constituency office is that while members of staff in the Department of Social and Family Affairs staff will answer the telephone, they will not talk to me, although they will talk to my constituents. A political decision has been made by the unions not to co-operate with Members of the Oireachtas. It is a critical issue which needs to be urgently addressed. Members of the public are entitled to get the facts but they are not getting them and are becoming stressed because staff will not answer telephones and, even when they do, they will not talk to us.

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