Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I agree with the Minister that the staff are helpful. The executive council of the CPSU has rejected the public sector pay deal and prior to Easter, we had a discussion in the House on the Order of Business with regard to contingency plans in the Department. Has the Minister considered contingency plans in the event of action being escalated and social welfare offices across the country being affected? I do not want to see a situation arise where people cannot get their payments or their applications processed because of an escalation in action. We have seen the difficulties that arose in the Passport Office. There were also temporary difficulties when some of the social welfare offices were closed. This is something about which people are concerned and which could get out of control. The previous Minister had not considered contingency plans, but is the current Minister doing so? He needs to have some plan in place rather than having to react on the day if action affects offices. Is he preparing a contingency plan?

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