Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to make it clear that I fully recognise the valuable and fundamental role many of the support staff grades make to the efficient delivery of many of our healthcare services. I am aware that in December 2018 SIPTU announced that it will ballot more than 7,000 support staff members working in hospitals and for healthcare providers. In my view, this ballot is premature. SIPTU is claiming that the Government has breached the terms of public service pay agreement but this is not the case. As I already outlined, management agreed to the terms of the scheme in 2017, but the question of its implementation was always intended to be subject to further discussion with my colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.