Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to press the Minister of State on the timetable for that. I acknowledge reference to the very best efforts and all that, but I have a genuine concern that we will be back here in four or five years with this issue still not resolved. I would like more information on the timeline. I appreciate the Minister of State has sought a bilateral meeting in two and a half weeks. What is the likely outcome? Does he expect that this matter will be substantially resolved by the end of the Belgian Presidency or will continue past that? In his response he might outline how this might continue through the European elections and potentially into the establishment of a new Commission. While it might be an important issue for some people, it might not get to the top of the new Commission's agenda immediately.

While I am assuming this is happening anyway, I ask the Minister of State to confirm that there is ongoing engagement with the relevant trade unions. In this case I think it is almost exclusively SIPTU, but not entirely. SIPTU representatives have consulted with me and have also appeared before our committee.

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