Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will bring up the issue of the medical scientists' industrial action and direct it to the Minister for Health, as he is here. The remarkable decision not to return to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, after last week's day of action needs to be answered properly. The Taoiseach said that there have been "informal" talks but in his next sentence, he said that things have to be done "transparently". Where is the transparency in that? I have to ask the Minister of Health the question that was asked of me this morning on the picket line: is this a deliberate tactic by the Government to break the resolve of the workers? I refer to the decision not to return to the WRC in the last week. We see more spin by the Government today that there will be an expansion of the number of medical scientists by more than 4%. Actually, it is not expansion, it is replacement because of the retention crisis they have. Is this a deliberate tactic to break the resolve of the workers? If not, can the Minister understand why the workers would believe that it is?

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