Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise the issue of the report from the review group set up to examine the issues around granting access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court to representative bodies of members of An Garda Síochána - both the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI. I echo their calls this morning outlining their disappointment at the fact that they will be excluded from both bodies, which is a very retrograde step. We saw what happened last year when we were held almost at gunpoint, one could say, when gardaí threatened industrial action. All of a sudden, all the industrial relations mechanisms available to the State were rolled out in order to address that impasse. We certainly do not want that situation to arise again and it is something that needs to be grasped.

If one looks at how members of An Garda Síochána are treated, one would be even more disappointed if one looked to members of the Defence Forces. They were not even granted access to this review group, which is very disappointing and highlights a total lack of respect for members of the Defence Forces and for their representative bodies, the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO. I ask the Leader to invite both Ministers to the House so that they can outline how issues affecting the welfare of members of both organisations, who serve this State so well and who deserve special recognition for the work which they do, are going to be addressed.