Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was put under pressure by nobody. I am very much my own man. If the Deputy listened to any of my replies in the House earlier, she would have heard me indicate that I wished to have some form of review of the conciliation and arbitration scheme. One thing I did was to listen to the representative associations, both PDFORRA and RACO. When I went to the PDFORRA conference in late 2017, it was not expected that I would attend. I said that I was going to carry out a full review of the existing conciliation and arbitration scheme and I am happy that will happen.

I am glad that the Deputy's contacts within the representative associations are alive and well and that she beat me to it this morning. However, I point out that I did not issue a press release on this. I respected the House and the Opposition spokespersons and I informed them during defence questions today that I have appointed Mr. Gerard Barry. I have asked Mr. Barry to meet the Secretary General and the Chief of Staff prior to starting the review. However, I expect that the review will start within the next week. I met Mr. Barry for quite a considerable time last week. I went through my own thoughts and feelings on the existing scheme and I asked him to report back to me within six months. I have every confidence that Mr. Barry will carry out the review and report back to me within six months.

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