John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It would be remiss of me not to raise the issue to which I am about to refer. Two years ago I was fortunate to be elected from the labour panel in order that I might represent workers' interests. I come from Portlaoise which is home to the country's two largest high security prisons. In that context, I register my dismay at the manner in which workers who are members of the 24/7 Frontline Services Alliance are being treated in the current review relating to the Croke Park agreement and in the discussions on pay. I support the people concerned in their view that they have been double-crossed. The current Croke Park agreement to which they signed up in good faith still has 12 months to run. They conceded to pay cuts, rationalisation, reform and redundancies. They bought into, embraced and honoured the agreement but halfway through its period of operation, they are of the view that they are being double-crossed. Those to whom I refer are being asked to accept further cuts and are being pilloried and characterised as people who do not want to move forward. That is wrong.

It is both wrong and Thatcherite in the extreme to try to encourage divisions between public and private sector workers. Certain organisations within the public sector are even trying to encourage such divisions between different elements within the sector. That is also wrong. I intend no disrespect to other public or private sector workers, but one cannot compare the work done on a Sunday by someone employed in a shop, an office or a restaurant with that done by a garda, a prison officer in a high security prison, a nurse in an accident and emergency department, a soldier or a fire-fighter on the same day, to whom we turn when we need help. They operate in dangerous and attritional working environments and often put their lives on the line for us. Not even Stalin could turn Sunday into Monday. Since biblical times, Sunday has been a day of rest and recreation which people have spent with their families. However, there has been an attempt to use the current crisis to see to it that working on a Sunday will be treated in the same way as working on a Monday. That is wrong and will not be allowed to stand.