David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their new jobs and also the members of other parties who have been appointed spokespersons for this brief.

I thank the Minister for his response, although my question was whether he believed the Lansdowne Road agreement was, as he said publicly, the only show in town. He is right in that he has to report to the Oireachtas on extending the FEMPI legislation. I understand this, but we also have a programme for Government in which the Government has committed to the establishment of a public sector pay commission and which also refers to dealing with the issues of pay equality and pay equalisation. How and when will that happen? When will the teachers and nurses on different pay scales because they happened to enter the public sector in 2011 but who are doing exactly the same job as others be treated fairly and on the basis of equality? They deserve to know the Minister's intentions in this matter.

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