Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I formally second the Senator O'Sullivan's proposed amendment.

Once again, the Labour Party is calling on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to come before this House. Many secondary schools across the State are closed today. I am surprised it has taken until I have risen to my feet for this matter to be raised in the Chamber. We are facing unprecedented industrial relations chaos.It is affecting students, teachers, parents and families, and I have not yet spoken about gardaí. This dispute is being mishandled and now we have the suggestion that teachers engaged in this industrial dispute will be taken off the payroll. The Minister for Education and Skills and the Government have managed to make a bad situation worse.

Over the past few days Senator Nash, Senator Humphreys and I have called for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to come into the House to lay out his plans for the public sector pay commission he proposes will meet between now and next summer, and to detail his vision in that regard. Our vision is that the negotiations on a second Lansdowne Road agreement should begin immediately. That would take the tension out of these disputes, allow people to understand there is a process in place, and assure public servants that this Government has some level of respect for them. It appears to me that the Government is showing zero level of respect for public sector unions and a lack of understanding of the way public sector unions or the public sector works. In the short period of time it has been in government, it has managed to allow two industrial disputes spiral almost out of control whereas in the past five years we had relative industrial peace. Once again, for the third day in a row, I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to the House to discuss with us how best to proceed because my fear, and that of my party, is that this Government does not have a cat's clue how to deal with industrial relations, does not understand the public service or public service unions and will continue to make a bad situation worse.