Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Five Senators raised today the issue of the nursing dispute. I will make the same point I made last week and the whole time. All of us value, respect and admire the work being done in our hospitals and healthcare system by our nurses. Not one person I know of wants to see any person, be it a nurse, teacher, porter or bus driver, on strike. Today there is a pathway to reopen the talks between all sides. I hope those concerned can re-engage and have meaningful dialogue. Despite the one-dimensional view of Senator Gavan on the public sector pay agreement, we cannot have a free-for-all around public sector pay.