Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I request the Deputy Leader of the House to arrange for an urgent debate early next week on the threatened industrial action by public sector unions, which will affect schools, hospitals and local authorities throughout the country. There is a serious need for us to debate this issue. A massive industrial crisis is about to happen across the public sector, which will have a huge knock-on effect on students, patients and those who require local authority services. People are very angry about the way the Government has handled this economy, but when one meets the rank and file members of many of these unions their anger is extremely palpable. Not ignoring the stark financial crisis we are currently in, I request the Deputy Leader to arrange for an urgent debate on this issue to facilitate the airing of the views of some members of the unions concerned and our views on the issues around these strikes and how they will affect people in the coming weeks. Such a debate is urgently required.