David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Having acknowledged that the State cut the funding of section 39 organisations, he stated that a good place to start in terms of making savings would be to cut salaries given that these organisations spend a large part of their budgets on pay. Bizarrely, he then stated that the pay of employees in section 39 organisations should be restored but he did not know how this should be done. This is a complete abdication of responsibility.

The Minister of State does not have a plan and he and the Government are behaving like headless chickens. They do not know what to do because they do not want to do the right thing. Despite knowing that cutting the funding of section 39 organisations would reduce the funding available for staff pay, the then Government, which included the Labour Party, proceeded to do so. It now does not have a plan to support the affected workers and ensure they get their money back. Rather than making a speech in which he says nothing, the Minister of State should have outlined a plan in order that the workers present in the Public Gallery and those protesting for their just entitlements outside the Dáil, which they should not have to do, get what they deserve. The onus is on the Minister of State and Department. He must return to the Chamber with a plan rather than waffling and using words that insult the affected workers.

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