Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, in the context of the use of the word "hope", I believe this issue can be resolved. As recently as Tuesday, officials from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth engaged with the trade unions on the issue, and there will be further engagement next week. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has informed me of that. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte is very strongly over this. As far as I am concerned, this is a priority issue that we need to resolve. I have been a strong advocate for the resolution of this issue within government. We all collectively accept the issues but we also acknowledge that this has built up over a decade. The important focus must be on the process. The industrial relations process is the one to resolve this either through the WRC or the Labour Court. In my view we should put our energies together. There is a commitment and a will to try to get this resolved, not just in the short term, as we need a more sustainable framework over the medium to longer term in respect of these organisations which are providing vital services for many people across the country.

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