Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Since the establishment of Irish Water, local authority water workers have continued to work in their local authorities, which in turn have provided services for Irish Water. There were a lot of discussions about the full transfer of those workers and they were given assurances that, whether they transferred over to Irish Water or stayed in the local authority, all of their terms and conditions would be protected. It now transpires that if they stay in the local authority, their allowances are under threat. The Tánaiste knows from the collective bargaining engaged in by the previous Government he was involved in that allowances became a key part of core pay and became pensionable. As a result of this threat to their allowances, it appears that a strike of those water workers is imminent in less than two weeks' time. Will the Government intervene? I appreciate it is a dispute between the Local Government Management Agency, on the one hand, and Irish Water on the other, but we need to make sure these workers are treated fairly and we need to avert a strike in essential services.

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