Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come to the House and give his response and I will not detain him any longer. I am disappointed with the response. I appreciate why the Minister for Health cannot be here this evening. I call on the Minister of State to bring this back to the Minister for Health. It has been outlined clearly that the Government is not even arguing that these workers are not entitled to these payments. I have written to the Minister for Health to try to quantify what the cost would be to the Department of Health.

I will continue to pursue the matter and this is simply the beginning. These workers are entitled to this money. It is difficult because I cannot explain to them, nor should I have to, why we are not paying them although it has been affirmed independently that they are entitled to these payments, which average approximately €12,000. I call on the Minister of State to bring this back to the Minister for Health. I have written to him to quantify the matter and I will continue to raise it. We will look at other legal venues available to the workers to ensure they get the money they are due.