Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I think the Deputy knows from his own experience in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which has responsibility for the machinery of industrial relations, that the Government has at its disposal an array of instruments and institutions that can be mobilised at the appropriate time. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is of the view that at this stage, ongoing discussions between both parties are taking place and it would be inappropriate to take any action outside those talks until such time as there are further developments. If an intervention is required, then that will be considered in due course.

Everybody in this House shares the concern about disruption of supply at this time of the year, coming up to the Christmas period. One of the factors that gave rise to this unease is the position of the pension fund, and the Deputy has already concurred with my own observation on that. Hopefully, the talks will produce a positive, constructive settlement. If an intervention is requested or required, then the machinery for that intervention is available.

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