Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As pointed out in response to a question from Deputy Howlin, the Government obviously is anxious that the mechanisms of the State are used well to encourage people to engage in this regard and to deal with matters where industrial action has taken place, is threatened or is a cause for concern. That is what such mechanisms are for. The Lansdowne Road agreement on public service pay is the mechanism the Government believes can deal with the vast majority of these. As the Deputy is aware, two teacher unions have accepted; the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, ASTI, is outside that fold at present. I am glad and happy that the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, and the Garda Representative Association, GRA, have agreed to meet the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality. They will find the Minister to be attentive to their particular problems and I hope that matter can proceed arising from those discussions.

For the Deputy's information, the Low Pay Commission was set up with a particular purpose in mind: to be objective, to be independent and to declare to the Government what in its view would be an appropriate increase for low-paid employees in respect of the minimum wage. That is the reason it was set up, and after its establishment, the Government followed suit in implementing the recommendation of the commission. The people concerned are not under the diktat of the Government, as the Deputy seems to point out. In so far as the position in health is concerned, with a budget that now is greater than €14.5 billion, the Health Service Executive, HSE, offers permanent contracts to young nurses coming out of college and permanent employment to nurses who have been in temporary employment. Moreover, discussions are ongoing in respect of the incremental rights of those nurses who have been graduates for a number of years and who did not receive those rights. The Minister for Health already has spoken to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and I hope this matter also can be resolved.

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