Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The reason I ask is because of a current industrial dispute regarding adult education tutors. As the Minister will be aware, this is a long-running campaign and some of the issues date back to the Haddington Road agreement. There have been multiple meetings at the WRC. In March 2020, three years ago this month, the Labour Court made a recommendation that the Government, of which Deputy Donohoe was then Minister for Finance, would make them an offer. In July 2022, the Government made a promise to them that an offer would be on the table by the end of September but, in spite of all of this, they are still waiting. Only a fortnight ago, the TUI and SIPTU had a meeting here and they informed us that the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science wants to make them an offer. The real question is what is the hold-up at this point. I know they say a week is a long time in politics. If that is the case, these workers have really been waiting a lifetime.

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