Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not call it progress when a person who is on a "deal" salary on the first point of the scale will receive €33,000 per year whereas somebody who qualified pre-2011 will receive €39,000. That is a continuation of pay discrimination and it is why it is right that people are fighting against what is happening. The teachers, the Luas workers and the gardaí are showing that if people want to achieve pay restoration and justice, the best way to do so is to engage in struggle and strike action. The Government is preparing to try to recruit people to break the teachers' strike. However, people have seen the example of other workers and understand that this is how to win victories. I do not understand how the Government intends to recruit 1,000 extra nurses into the public health care system while this ongoing pay inequality exists. What will the Government do about it?

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