Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I urge him to continue to engage with PDFORRA and other representative organisations to ensure the areas of conciliation and arbitration are dealt with. There are other issues apart from pay and conditions. I emphasise the need to ensure members doing us proud in their work on behalf of the State go home with a decent wage packet every week to meet the needs of their families so they do not have to have people out on the streets protesting on their behalf and seeking proper remuneration for a job they do very well in the most difficult circumstances. When there are difficulties in this country and abroad we call upon those people to rise to the task ahead. They work in difficult circumstances. They are away from home a lot of the time. All of us would pay quite rightly our commendation for the work they do abroad championing Irish foreign policy in awfully difficult circumstances. Those people should be properly rewarded for their work.

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