Marie Moloney (Labour)

The Minister of State took the wind out of my sails today because he gave a very extensive report on the working of the Croke Park agreement. I had researched it but I will not repeat what he said.

Many people have said they want to break the agreement. Have they really thought that out in terms of what it would do to the country? The public sector has the potential to bring this country to a standstill. We would have strikes and people would work to rule. Those who called for the agreement to be broken would tell us it is our fault if that was happening and we should do something about it.

We have stopped strikes and people working to rule through the introduction of the Croke Park agreement. We did not enter into it lightly. Negotiations took place between many parties, including trade unions and the Government. It was not done overnight, it took a long time to negotiate. We are now getting co-operation, flexibility and mobility from public sector workers all over the country.

The problem is that the media will always portray what it wants to and put its own spin on things. Will it look at what is going on in local authorities? Refuse workers have moved onto the roads painlessly. Things are happening quietly and negotiations are taking place behind the scenes. In the health sector cleaners, porters and domestic staff have all been redeployed to other jobs. Such changes are happening painlessly and without an uproar.

The education sector is of most concern. I implore people not to break the agreement but to keep it in place. It is working. As people say, why fix something that is not broken.