Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Medical scientists have been waiting for 20 years for the Government to turn up and deliver. They do not need plaudits. They do not need applause. What they need is a government to step up to the plate, recognise the invaluable work they do in the health service and recognise all of the work that they have done over the past number of years. They have been waiting 20 years for a government to hear their legitimate grievances and act. They are out on strike today because they have had enough.

We cannot allow this to go into a third week and the disruption that that will have to the health services with three more days of strike next week. The Taoiseach says that we need to use the industrial relations mechanisms. I agree with that, but all parties need to turn up. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, DPER, needs to be at the table. The people who will pay at the end of the day need to be involved in these talks. I am asking the Taoiseach, again, if he will direct the Department of Health, the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to get around the table with the medical scientists to come up with some sort of resolution.

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