Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. We all did considerable lobbying on the hourly rate and welcome its increase, which was not before time. The only way this can become sustainable to allow these people to offer the absolutely necessary services to those with disabilities is by putting a proper 52-week contract in place. Work needs to be done by the Department along with other Departments. We all fear when we hear about interdepartmental reviews but we need to ensure the part that needs to be done here is done to facilitate this while accepting that a review is an absolute necessity to offer the necessary service to those with disabilities. Following our conversation last week, and not for the first time, I have requested a meeting with the PAs. If Fórsa and everybody else could be there, we could get those workers doing really brilliant work. We could settle that and face in the right direction of providing sustainable employment and delivering for those with disabilities.

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