Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

School secretaries and caretakers have served their schools and communities for years and, in many cases, decades. They are the glue that holds our school system together and they do not want to go on strike. They just want fairness when it comes to pay and conditions but this Government has shown no such fairness. There has been zero engagement. Fórsa trade union has made numerous offers to talk and every one has been ignored. Forced into a corner, Fórsa has written to 2,000 schools to give formal notice of indefinite strike action at the end of August. These workers seek pay justice and pension parity and a basic recognition of their contribution. Instead of action, they have been met with silence. The Ministers, Deputies McEntee and Chambers, have failed utterly to respond despite knowing what is at stake. Will the Taoiseach intervene, direct his Ministers to engage for Fórsa and take immediate steps to deliver a fair and just resolution, or will he allow this strike to proceed?

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