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

Christopher Columbus would never have set sail for America without having galley slaves aboard. No army ever won a war without the PBI - the poor bloody infantry. The infantry of our health service are our porters, our cleaners and our canteen staff. When the bankers and developers crashed the economy, they were the men and women who took on extra responsibilities to keep our health service together.

Having waited for years for the moneys they have earned to be paid, they are now 19 hours away from national strike action against the Government on this issue. Will the Minister stop trying to use the Labour Court as a delaying tactic and finally concede the payment these workers were promised, having earned them in the first instance?

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