Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I would prefer to debate the industrial action in the public sector than to engage in more navel gazing on the role of the Seanad and what we should be doing. There are far more pressing problems now and Senator Leyden should be calling for the Leader to arrange a debate on those.

Discussions are underway between the Government and the public sector union leadership but the Opposition has no idea what is happening in those negotiations. We have all received representations from public sector workers who are concerned about these pay cuts. I have received one letter from the leadership of a public sector union that issued veiled threats about what it would do at the next general election if we do not support them. I say to the leadership of the public sector unions that we do not even know what it wants to negotiate on. Even though some people in this House support the public sector unions in this industrial action, the public sector unions themselves are not engaging with the Opposition to any degree. If we have a debate about these strikes, I ask the public sector unions to engage with us.

There is a concern that we have discussed before that a divide is arising between public and private sector workers. This industrial action will only ensure a divide between the public sector and the general public. That will do nothing to solve the problems we are discussing. I ask the public sector unions to discuss these issues with us. I do not expect the Government to do it because it does not know what it wants to do but the unions should let us know what they aim to achieve in the negotiations so we have some idea what is happening at the moment.

This crisis has the potential to affect the economy detrimentally over the course of the next year. It must be addressed urgently so I am asking for a debate in this House on this important issue. We should have it today, there is no point having it next week, and the public sector unions should also engage with the Opposition.