John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be brief, we have a problem. The Minister acknowledged there would be a high cost because of other groups. I acknowledge those issues. I do not have the breakdown of figures that the Minister has. On the other hand, the other side of the equation is that there is a Labour Court recommendation to be dealt with and it is not going away. The problem is that this high-level forum was established to address the Labour Court recommendation and it seems to have come to a standstill. There is no progress, no process and there is no outcome. People who have been community employment supervisors or assistant supervisors are effectively left in limbo. That is a most unsatisfactory position for them. I speak on their behalf when I present this.

I acknowledge there may be other implications. I have heard the Minister say it before. He quoted some figures today. The global figure has been quoted and it is quite a wide range, at half or double, whichever way one is looking at it. No breakdown of where that has come from has been made available to me, and I do not think it has been made available to this side of the House. I appeal to the Minister to ensure that the high-level forum convenes again, deals with the issue and publishes the minutes of its previous meetings. These people are entitled to that level of transparency on foot of the Labour Court recommendation that has been made.

See this speech in context