Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On Tuesday night, retained firefighters walked out of the Gallery in disgust at what the Minister had to say in our debate on the Private Members' motion. They have been engaging in industrial action now for quite a while as a result of the failure to address the core issue of pay attached to the service. This industrial action is now at crisis point. There is an all-out strike planned for Tuesday, which will result in the closure of all retained fire stations across the State. SIPTU this morning stated that there is likely to be mass resignation from the service as a result of this action. The Minister knows this will cause the collapse of the service. Today, firefighters have marched on Leinster House. They are outside and are very angry that the Government will not intervene. An intervention is required now. I ask the Minister to make an improved offer in relation to pay for retained firefighters. I also ask and challenge him to go outside after this business to meet the firefights because they are fed up to the hilt with what the Minister said. Some handed in their pagers to members of the Opposition. I challenge the Minister to wear a pager for the next number of weeks, put up with an €8,600 retainer and not leave his community further than 2.5 km away and see how he can stand over such pay and conditions.

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