Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The issue to which I refer is the transfer of staff to Irish Water from local authorities. I want to put it on the record of this House again that local authority staff were approached by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and asked to enter into discussions and negotiations. Contrary to what has been suggested here previously, it did not happen the other way around. SIPTU is the main union that represents staff working on the ground, who earn between €35,000 and €40,000 per annum. We are not talking about the people who were subsequently taken on. I will deal with them in a minute.