Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As I said earlier, we very much value the work of retained firefighters. They provide an exceptional service around the country. We are confident this dispute can be resolved by negotiation. We are a Government that recognises trade unions. We engage in collective bargaining with trade unions. We come to an agreement with trade unions, and we expect those agreements to be honoured because we honour them too. We have an agreement with the trade unions; it is called Building Momentum. There was a ballot of public servants across the country, who voted in ballots for that agreement. We are honouring it and we expect everyone to honour it too.

See this speech in context