John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has been found wanting. The Government, and successive Governments, have been found wanting for more than 20 years, because this crisis has not just evolved over the last weeks or months. This has been a crisis for 20 years or more. The Minister talks about politicising an issue but it has been politicised because of the successive failures of the political establishment, including the Minister's own party. The matter is before the Labour Court, as the Minister correctly outlines. That is the case because of his failure and the failure of his Government to address the key issue of remuneration and the fact that the constraints put on the negotiations by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, resulted in them breaking down.

I am very hopeful that key recommendations will come from the Labour Court, dealing with the work-life balance issues and remuneration. They are the key issues that need to be addressed. The key question is whether the Minister will give a commitment that the recommendations that come out of the process will be immediately addressed and implemented. That is the crux of the question here; whether the Minister is going to sit on the recommendations that come from the Labour Court and allow this issue to continue. We know the industrial action has been suspended by the retained firefighters but they are ready and willing to re-engage in the industrial action if the Minister continues to sit on his hands and allow this crisis to continue into the future. Will the Minister act on the recommendations when they do come from the Labour Court?

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