Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the ongoing negotiations on the inequality issue and the Government's commitment to resolving it. I accept that there is a pathway for it to be carried through. However, the pay commission was charged with an initial and primary responsibility which was related to recruitment and retention issues and the associated difficulties in the health service. There is an acknowledgement on the part of the Government that this is its job of work. There was a further acknowledgment in the Minister's reply that he would look at the recommendations that emanated from it and enter into discussions on them in good faith thereafter. That is merely what we are seeking at this juncture. We acknowledge, of course, the constraints and the fiscal rules which have to be adhered to. As we said during the negotiations which led to the confidence and supply arrangement, however, it is imperative that the commission be provided with the terms of reference to which we have alluded, namely, that there are issues surrounding recruitment and retention. The Government must acknowledge the need for a pathway to deal with these issues, notwithstanding the difficulties which may emerge by virtue of the difference of opinion on the agreement in place, as I have outlined, for the INMO.

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