Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There is a terrible legacy of this State relying on charity to deliver care for the most vulnerable sections of our society, particularly those with disability. We have perpetuated a situation where 5,000 workers in 30 organisations have been forced to serve strike notice of three weeks on this date. This is an indefinite strike in the section 39 sector. I want to make a very simple argument. These workers took massive pay cuts during austerity. Other workers have had their pay restored, but these workers have not. Why are we treating them differently given that the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, said here a few months ago that on the one hand these are private organisations but on the other hand we largely fund them, so we cannot divorce ourselves from their ability to pay their staff? If we push the staff of the Irish Wheelchair Association, the National Learning Network, Enable Ireland, Depaul, Cobh hospital and the Rehab Group - the list goes on and on - out on strike, shame on us. We are boasting that we have never had as much money in the national purse as we have now. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene to prevent this strike from happening and to make sure the people who look after our most vulnerable get pay parity.

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