Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his time this afternoon. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay until the end of the Second Stage debate on Tuesday but I read the record and I agree with something the Minister of State said. I commend him on the achievement of unwinding the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation in an orderly and controlled manner. Considering the context in which FEMPI was passed and the progress that has been made since that time, it is something to take a moment to consider and I commend the Minister of State and the Department on this.

That being said, I want to signal my opposition to section 22. The section suspends the awarding of increments to trade unions that have not signed up to the public service stability agreement and it ensures they will not receive any benefits of the agreement between 2018 and 2021. It deliberately penalises public servants not covered by the public service stability agreement with slower pay restoration, suspends incremental increases until 2021 and implements a lower entry threshold for additional superannuation contributions until 2021 compared with public servants whose unions did sign up.

This legislation will entrench and support discrimination by the State between cohorts of its own public servants based on their union membership. The Government will essentially reward public servants and unions that agree with it and sharply penalise those public servants and unions that do not. The unions that perhaps rejected this deal based on solidarity with members who are not given full pay restoration have now been punished. It sets a dangerous precedent and is an attempt to bulldoze opposition by offering incentives to those who subsequently sign up to the agreement via the Workplace Relations Commission.