Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When Deputy Varadkar was elected Taoiseach, the first thing he did was create a Ministry and appointed a Minister with responsibility for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring. There is nobody better to shout for rural Ireland. I think that Sinn Féin Members think if they keep saying the same thing over and over, it will actually become true. That is not the case.

I wish to raise the one-day strike in February by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors. This action was taken by them because of a ten-year dispute over their pensions.There are 1,250 community employment, CE, supervisors, with no access to any occupational pension scheme, despite a 2008 Labour Court recommendation in their favour. Before the strike in February, SIPTU wrote to the Minister asking him if he would meet with it to discuss the implementation of the Labour Court recommendation. Thus far, it has not received a reply so I ask the Deputy Leader to use the good office of the Leader to request that the Minister reply, perhaps meet these supervisors and find a way of fixing this for them. We all know about the wonderful work that is done in communities around the country, including in rural Ireland, by these supervisors.