Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has said publicly on a number of occasions that he would meet representative groups, but he has yet to do so personally. They have been in contact with the Minister recently to seek a meeting prior to the budget. The point, however, is that the right of these groups to be represented should not be based on the grace and favour of the Minister. It is not tea and sympathy they need, but workers' rights and the right to use the industrial relations mechanisms of the State. The protest outside the House today comprised representative groups of teachers, gardaí, fire fighters, local authority workers, workers from the ESB, CIE and so forth, people who served the State for all their adult lives. Some of them were children when they started at 15 or 16 years of age. They have been let down poorly by the Minister. First, they do not have the right to sit at the table when pay negotiations for public servants are taking place. They are often overlooked and sidelined. They are seeking industrial relations rights, recognition that they matter and to be able to explain and negotiate their case at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. Their second requirement is for the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman to recognise them as a collective, not just as individuals who take individual cases. They need that collective bargaining strength. Will the Minister do something about this?

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