Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a clear need to restructure various bodies that grew up along with the previous approach to social partnership. What is not clear is where in government leadership will come from in this area because we are seeing more and more examples of strife and conflict in the public service concerning both service provision and remuneration. The Government is making it up as it goes along, and that is taking a charitable view. Before Christmas there was the Garda dispute and the Labour Court intervention was a catalyst for bringing forward the Lansdowne Road pay agreement. There is the transport dispute with Bus Éireann. There is also the health dispute involving nurses and now general care staff are looking for concessions. That is a huge worry for people given the prospect of industrial action in hospitals.

In previous times there was a social partnership framework and since the crash it is a concept that dare not speak its name. When one talks to people either in the public service or elsewhere there seems to be a general lament and longing for some framework, forum or dialogue on a consistent and ongoing basis so as to have a greater vision and sense of a collective approach to the future of the country and society. It seems that the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater, so to speak, in terms of the concept of social partnership. I do not say we should go back to it, as it is clear there were errors and mistakes made in previous iterations of it, but given what Deputy Howlin raised in his question on the NESDO it seems there is relevance in terms of what structures we have nationally to facilitate the pursuit of common ideals between partners in society, namely, the trade union movement, farmers, the community and voluntary pillar and the Oireachtas. That absence is contributing to a vacuum which, in turn, is lending itself to periodic and episodic bouts of conflict and industrial disputes, one leapfrogging another and there is a real danger the situation will spin out of control in terms of the public service. The Taoiseach might indicate what he intends to do in the coming weeks to try to prevent the escalation of industrial conflict.

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