Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join other Members of the House in sending birthday wishes to Senator Lynn Ruane today. We wish her well.I welcome my friend Mr. Pavlock from Philadelphia, to the House. He is a welcome guest.

I thank the 19 Members who raised many issues. I will begin with Senator Colm Burke's remarks regarding the future health strategy. I do so in a spirit of co-operation and cross-party consensus. It is not good enough that the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are opposing the appointment or nomination of Members of this House to the Committee on the Future of Healthcare. It means that we are not good enough and we do not have the expertise. In the context of retention of the Seanad, they are doing a bad job in promoting the House. I appeal to both leaders to go back to their respective parties. It is wrong, it is not good politics and it sends the wrong message.

To be fair to Senator Daly, he was not party to the decision of his party and I am sure Senator Gavan, the Sinn Féin Whip and, Senator Devine, the party's health spokesperson, are not complicit in that but it is absolutely appalling that Seanad Members are not being supported to serve on a committee that will set the health policy of our nation for the next decade and beyond. It is unacceptable and the leaders are speaking out of both sides of their mouths. If they want reform, political correctness and new politics, then all of us should be included. Senators Daly and Gavan should go back to their respective parties and make a stand because this is not good enough. I intend to raise this issue at the next meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges in the next few weeks.

Senator Daly raised the issue of neutrality and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I did not think our position on neutrality had changed but the Senator made a good point. The document to which he referred is a statement of strategy, which outlines the goals and objectives the Department intends to pursue to promote the values of our people and to promote the State while advancing our prosperity abroad. I assume the value to which he referred is neutrality and I hope that will not change. We should come back to this at a later date and I very much support his call on that.

On the issue of Brexit and jobs, I mentioned yesterday that the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Dara Murphy, has been travelling throughout the eurozone to highlight Ireland's importance and to try to attract companies to locate here. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation secured additional resources for her Department in the budget relating to the post-Brexit era. This funding will provide for an additional 50 staff in the Department and its agencies specifically tasked with assisting companies adjusting to the challenge. The funding will equally help to secure new business and innovation opportunities and diversification into new markets. The Government is prepared and it is working on this. If the Senator has ideas in this regard, I would be happy to convey them to the Minister but he is correct to raise the issue.

Senator Craughwell raised the issue of industrial relations. We are in an uncharted time post-recession. Expectations are growing and people want more money in their pockets but, at the same time, the Government parties have a limited amount to spend. On one level, we want increased public services and increases in take home pay but the Government must balance the books not only in fiscal terms but to ensure it gets the mix right between public expenditure and service provision.

It is important that as Members we invite members of the GRA, AGSI and ASTI to engage in meaningful talks about the issues they have. This will not be done through megaphone diplomacy on the airwaves of our broadcasters. It is important that union representatives sit down with officials from the Departments of Justice and Equality, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Education and Skills and the respective Ministers to reach a resolution. The Lansdowne Road agreement, which Deputy Howlin and Senator Humphreys were party to, is a framework within which pay restoration to public servants can be managed and delivered. All of us recognise the fundamental difficulty gardaí encounter in doing their job and all of us understand the importance of education. I appeal to all sides to engage in talks.

Senator Gavan raised the issue of Shannon Airport yet again. As he knows quite well, Ireland is not precluded from allowing military aircraft to land or overfly as a neutral country. There is a UN resolution in this regard and post-9/11, the Government of the day took a decision in conjunction with the UN Security Council to allow for the use of Shannon Airport. I would be happy to have a debate on this. Our position has not changed. The Senator comes in sometimes perhaps trying to get headlines with some of his comments about the airport.