Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today. I empathise with Senator Paddy Burke when he refers to political vulnerability, particularly when there are retired Mayo footballers coming onto the political pitch. However, I cannot concur with what was said around pensions and vulnerability in the context of some of our former taoisigh earning in excess of €20,000 for an hour's work delivering after-dinner speeches. The issue of judicial appointments and scrutiny of same will have to keep for another day because we are here today to talk about the pension levy and the Financial Emergency Measrues in the Public Interest Act, or FEMPI.

The pension levy was introduced in 2009 by way of FEMPI. Many of our public and civil servants such as nurses, teachers, gardaí and fire fighters did not believe that the Act would happen. They believed that Fianna Fáil would not go to war or attack them as civil servants. The 24/7 alliance that formed in response, based on the belief that once the Government had started with this one measure it would continue and go after those receiving premium pay packets, was impactful due to its collective activism and trade unionism. Sinn Féin has long been calling for a fair and timely bottom-up restructuring of FEMPI, as the current two-tier system has caused pay inequality. Those with the lowest incomes must benefit before those with the higher incomes in order to reduce this pay inequality.

The failure of our two-tier system is a major contributor to Irish emigration which has led to difficulties in recruitment and retention in our nursing and hospital services, as well as in our education sector. It has also decimated many rural areas which still have yet to see any improvement or to see people returning in any significant numbers. The longer we fail to address and fix the two-tier system, the more it will cost the Exchequer in the long run in terms of services not being delivered and expensive overtime bills. In addition, we are losing some of the most qualified and brightest individuals that Ireland has produced as the two-tier system has caused many of our graduates to leave the country with no intention of returning. This should be of upmost concern for our Government. This is no more obvious than in the severe staff shortages in the emergency department in Mayo University Hospital. That department is down at least five full-time staff since this time last year and cannot operate properly. At the same time, we will see fully qualified nurses coming home for the Christmas holidays and leaving again. We cannot allow that to continue to happen.

Many of our civil and public servants are doing the exact same job as their colleagues but are but getting paid up to 15% less. This is demoralizing, dehumanizing and fundamentally wrong. Three teachers’ unions and UNITE have all voted against this deal. This Bill will continue payment inequality for civil and public servants who have been recruited since 2011. This is wrong and the Government must acknowledge this very serious and very real concern of our pubic and civil servants. Sinn Féin has long been fighting and advocating for the right to equal pay for equal work. We are being told that economy is improving, as is the situation of some of our people but the continuance of the two-tier pay system has not allowed our newly qualified teachers and recent nursing graduates to feel this benefit. Industrial action, in particular by the teaching profession, is a very real possibility. Putting into legislation matters that should be the subject of normal industrial relations procedures is quite an aggressive act and will have the effect of angering civil and public servants. It will send a message just like the one from the Taoiseach when he alluded to the possibility of outlawing strikes.

We must work hard to talk about these issues and take action to address concerns rather than just recognise that they should be dealt with and then push them to one side. Failing to acknowledge the concerns of the teacher’s unions will only further exacerbate our recruitment and retention crisis. It is important to acknowledge that the public service stability agreement, PSSA, has been accepted by the majority of trade unions. We will be proposing amendments to this legislation as appropriate. We do not oppose the Bill but we will continue to work with teachers, nurses and other civil and public servants to reverse unequal pay.