Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

To clarify, I have not meet with any of the unions. The industrial relations activity that is under way is part of a broader campaign across the public sector the response to which is being led and managed by the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach. To clarify another point, the Government did not pull out of talks with the unions. Unfortunately, we failed to reach agreement within those talks, and I am eager to see them resume as quickly as possible. In every dispute between Government and its employees or the employees of others, it is incumbent upon us to find a resolution. From the perspective of the health service, and patient safety in particular, I would like to see a resumption of the talks as soon as possible.

In areas where it was anticipated that there could be a negative impact on patient safety, where management has engaged at local level with the relevant unions that threat has not materialised. Radiotherapy services in Cork are an example of that. To the best of my knowledge I do not have information that would suggest there have been any adverse effects on any patient services, except that there is a difficulty in giving information to those who require it, including Members of the Oireachtas. It is difficult to operate and manage an organisation as large as the health service without appropriate information on a daily and weekly basis.

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