Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When I read the Minister's amendment to the motion I thought he was simply not going to make things better. Little did I know that when he read the text of his speech he would make things immeasurably worse. The mood with which the retained firefighters present in the Gallery walked out just as the Minister was finishing his remarks speaks volumes.

There is a fundamental flaw at the heart of the Minister’s proposition. The WRC cannot resolve this dispute because for it to make progress on any of the issues that have been mentioned, the issue of core pay and the rate of the retainer have to be dealt with. The LGMA does not have additional funds to deal with that issue so that requires an intervention from Government. Staff numbers cannot be increased by 20% on the current retainer. It is not possible and we will continue to lose staff. If we continue to lose staff, there cannot be structured time off or individual flexibility for availability etc. The idea that the Government is approaching this in a manner of reconciliation for workers and their representatives to go back to a process that is designed to fail is an insult.

Our proposition is straightforward; it is for the Minister to engage directly with the representatives of workers to resolve this matter. Even if he is not willing to do that, the Minister knows he has options other than standing on the sidelines, like a spectator at Croke Park, urging people in national pay agreement talks to do the right thing. The Minister knows it is possible for Government to request the Labour Court to conduct an inquiry into an industrial dispute of public and national interest, and then make recommendations to Government. That is one possible route to deal with the concern the Minister has raised.

No matter what way the Minister cuts it, unless this Government makes a simple decision that the base rate of pay of the men and women of the retained fire service is not acceptable, that the only way to stop the deepening crisis in that service is to raise that rate of pay, and then, from that, to allow all of the other recommendations of the report to be realised, this crisis will get worse. The Minister said at the start of his speech, as he said in November, that he has long-standing admiration and interest in the work of the fire service. It is now in his power to stop the rot, halt the crisis and respect these men and women, not with words but with actions and proper remuneration. If he does not do that, his words are hollow, they mean nothing, and this crisis will continue. I commend the motion to the House.

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