Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)

This question should have arisen last week; the dispute has been resolved since then. There is no doubt that the Defence Forces were used, actively and consciously, in an effort to undermine the fire fighters in the course of their legitimate dispute with the local authority. Does the Minister think it appropriate that the Defence Forces should be used in this manner? What are the criteria for such intervention and in what other circumstances have they been called on to intervene in this way? The issue centred on retraining and the staff involved are very professional. They had an arrangement with their employer and they were engaged in a legitimate dispute. Undoubtedly, using the State forces gave the local authority an advantage. It is akin to bully boy tactics and I am not happy that my tax revenue is being used to undermine a group of workers.

I would imagine that Defence Forces staff have also been at the receiving end of a lot of bad Government decisions and would not like to be used in that way against other workers. I ask the Minister of State to address whether he thinks it is appropriate and what specific criteria are involved when the Defence Forces are called in to act in that regard. In how many other similar instances have they been called upon?

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