Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his positive contribution. Even in a short time he has travelled a considerable journey in terms of articulating that political signal and making it very clear that he wants that issue resolved in the interest of secretarial assistants and the sustainability and attractiveness of that employment. It is always a concern with public service negotiators that they may run the risk of creating some kind of precedent and getting themselves involved in a situation where an agreement with one sector of workers may have a knock-on effect or implications for other sectors of workers or, indeed, the integrity of the national agreement. However, it is my assessment that any positive conclusion to this set of negotiations would not have any implications for knock-on claims anywhere else by virtue of the fact that the job itself is unique. It is very difficult to compare it with any other role or function of any other public or civil servant across the system. We need to be mindful of that. The Minister, his officials and the officials at commission level need to be mindful of that too. There is no vulnerability there and there is no risk. It is a unique role and its uniqueness and the demands of the role need to be given very clear consideration by negotiations over the coming months.

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