Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I asked if the Minister of State would give a commitment to make arrangements to meet Ms Patricia King of the ICTU to put in place arrangements in the wake of this judgment. The reply the Minister of State gave me is that the recommendation from the European committee is receiving consideration. I note that reply. I express disappointment at it. I also take the opportunity to ask the Minister of State how long this consideration will take. Is it consideration that will play out over days, weeks, months or years? It will not be acceptable to the men and women of the Defence Forces and will not be acceptable to those who sit in these benches here and, I hope, others in this House, if the Minister of State attempts to kick to touch and do with the soldiers what the Government has done with gardaí, which is to drag its feet for a long period of time.

The one area where the European committee ruled unfavourably was in the area of the right to strike. Basically its ruling leaves it to member states to uphold a ban and the point was made by the EUROMIL representative that the right to strike exists in the Austrian and Swedish armed forces. The Minister of State said it was irreconcilable, but it exists in Austria and Sweden.

I want to put on record my support for the right to strike for members of the Defence Forces notwithstanding the fact that this right is not being actively sought by PDFORRA. The arguments against the right to strike are quite ridiculous. No worker or group of workers embarks on a strike in a light-minded way. Besides the financial hardship that comes with industrial action, public service workers weigh up the impact of their action on the service they provide to the public. The best that the Government and others in the establishment can come up with is the laughable notion that the Defence Forces might take action in the midst of an invasion or attack. Whether it is our Bill or the Bill that the Government must produce eventually, we will introduce Committee Stage amendments upholding the right to strike.

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