Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Let me put this in the broader context. The Deputy spoke about trust. Of course trust is important. The Government has managed to negotiate successfully with 23 unions and 300,000 public sector workers who have already come in under the Lansdowne Road agreement. It has managed to reach agreements with the INTO and the TUI. Of course we want to continue to have these negotiations successfully concluded with the ASTI.

With regard to the Deputy's point on the circular, it is a matter of planning and needed to be done. This is the reality. It is normal industrial relations practice that where workers in industrial action withdraw from core elements of their work resulting in the closure of the workplace those workers are not paid for those days.

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