Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for putting forward this important motion and most of all I commend workers in the community and voluntary sector, both for this campaign and for the absolutely vital work they do for our entire society and most often for vulnerable people, for communities and disadvantaged communities, for young people and for people with disabilities. They are in many cases, the glue that keeps whole parts of our society together and yet the Government treats them as second class citizens. It is treating the workers who provide these services as second class citizens and it is treating the service users as second class citizens. That is the reality of this. There is simply no justification for the unequal treatment of these workers and the people who use these services.

It does show a certain contempt. There is no other way to look at it. Of course it is linked to the outsourcing of vital health, community and social services which is endemic in our entire system. It leads to fragmentation and a situation where the Government can pass the buck because it does not have to take direct responsibility for either employees or for the vital community and social services and so on that these workers provide. It is really an apartheid in the treatment of certain types of community and public services of incredibly dedicated workers. God knows how any of them sustain themselves in a situation where they have not had pay raises for up to 14 years. They have been crucified like everybody else with the cost of living crisis and, indeed, the housing crisis that is hammering our society generally, but they are suffering disproportionately. While, as Deputy Barry said, public sector workers are getting some pay increases, which are not even enough to keep pace with the rocketing cost of inflation of energy prices, house prices and so on, these workers have been left without any pay increases. Seriously, how does the Government expect people to sustain that situation? This has to end. The Government should accept the principle that is being put forward in this motion. These workers should be paid the same as other public sector workers and get the same pay increases as other public sector workers. More generally, the services they provide for communities, for the vulnerable in society, for young people, for people with addiction issues and so on need to be seen and treated as equal to all the other public services for which the Government takes direct responsibility. The lack of respect and frankly the contempt that has been shown to these workers and their service users has to end.

I commend the workers for that campaign. I have no doubt they will continue it. They can be assured of our continued support. It is long past time that the Government recognised their case and conceded the demands that they are making.

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