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

I welcome the fact that taxi drivers in Cork will protest next Monday morning. Their demands are just and the Government should concede to them. Many of them actually involve no cost.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the fiasco facing transport workers at Aer Lingus regarding the stamping of social welfare forms for workers on short-term working contracts is anything other than a ploy designed to drive those workers to despair and force them to quit their jobs without redundancy. The original claim by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on national radio last week that it was a matter solely between Aer Lingus and its own employees did not go down very well. Workers know that the Department has been part of the problem and has been slow to intervene. These issues must be resolved now.

Aer Lingus and other transport workers are watching with trepidation the clock ticking down to the deadline of 30 September for the mortgage moratorium. Many workers availed of payment breaks five or six months back and will be due to start repaying in October and November. For many Aer Lingus workers, these payments cannot be made on the current levels of income and they are fearful of the consequences. The moratorium must be extended. There should also be no interest charged during payment breaks.

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