Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Strike action has occurred on six days, including a 24-hour strike on 31 May. Workers will demonstrate outside Leinster House at 12.30 p.m. tomorrow. Unfortunately, there will be a further 24-hour strike. They do not want to do it, but they are being forced to do so because this issue has been ongoing for six months. The Government has had six months to hold discussions with officials and the HSE to try to resolve this issue. The Minister of State assured the House that everyone wanted to see a resolution, but there has been none. Six months is a long time and people are getting tired of this. If the Minister of State thinks that workers will just walk away after fighting for the past ten years to have their union of choice recognised, he will find they will not. The dispute must be resolved.

Following on from Deputy Ó Caoláin's point, what discussions have there been with the HSE and what avenues were considered? The Minister of State keeps referring to a figure of 350, but there are more than 500 people in NASRA. Some were registered before the payroll cut-off happened. It is a significant group of workers in the ambulance sector and they should be recognised.

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