Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When all the senior negotiators for every trade union in the public service have been in the same building, often on the same floor and in the same rooms, as the senior negotiators for each line Department for a protracted period of time - as the Deputy will know there is a good deal of waiting time in all these negotiations - bilateral discussions can take place on issues that are not part of the pay agreement but that have been niggling or outstanding for a long time. Sometimes those issues can be resolved over that period of time, when advantage is taken of the proximity of negotiators involving representatives of public servants and line Departments or agencies. That is not surprising. I have indicated the issues that were raised with my staff, for which I am responsible. There were other issues. For example, the Deputy instanced the registration fees for nurses and I know that issue was raised with the HSE staff and with the Department of Health negotiators who were there. Those are issues because there were anomalies and they were addressed and resolved bilaterally, but they are not part of this agreement.

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