Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I will answer the Minister's question. It is because workers are not stupid. While the Minister has given a commitment that he will not transfer existing workers into any privatised company, the public service obligation ends in 2019, only four years away, and they know all bets will be off then. Any new element of the company that would be privatised would be used to drive down pay and conditions. We saw what happened with the Luas, where there are worse conditions and no trade union rights. The public element of the company would be benchmarked against it.

Government policy is to privatise. What the Government is doing is hilarious. It is taking out advertisements to bully people in their 30s to take out private health insurance, but wants us to believe it would not privatise transport or water. Privatisation is part of the Government's neo-liberal agenda. There is 90% support for the strike. The workers know what privatisation means. For the travelling public in the UK, it has meant an increase of 20% in fares in London and 12% in rural areas. The taxpayer has had to step in and prop up these private operators because they could not make enough profits.

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