Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We will support the motion put forward by the Fianna Fáil Party and we agree with the measures it contains.

There is one measure that seriously needs to be taken. When unions decide to take action to deal with an injustice, all of us should get behind them and support their actions. We should not condemn them and not vote for a budget, either next year or the year after, that contains measures that discriminate against teachers, nurses, doctors and other public servants. Consistently, most of the parties in this House and an awful lot of the Independents have been endorsing a budget which is discriminatory and which has helped to lead to the current crisis in our schools. That is a great message to send out to the kids in future. It needs to be unpicked and undone as soon as possible.

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