Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose to address the specifics of this issue because it is important. I have noted and read the equality audit report commissioned by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, which was launched in the middle of the ballot. The work-life balance arrangements in the public sector would have remained among the best available to any worker in the State if the Labour Relations Commission proposals had been implemented. That should be acknowledged.

Deputy Mick Wallace referred to work-sharing and asked how many work sharers would have been affected if the proposals had been implemented. Does he have any idea of the figure involved? In the region of 2% of those currently work-sharing in the Civil Service have a work-share pattern of less than 50% and almost 90% of work-sharers avail of the most popular and widely available patterns. Therefore, the vast majority of those engaged in work-sharing would not have been affected by the proposals.

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