Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, I referred to the difficulties that firefighters who are attached to our local authorities are having and the impending strike action they announced. I hope that the resolution to their difficulties will be found.

Today, I want to talk about the concerns of other local authority employees who are being transferred to Irish Water. I raised this issue a number of months ago when there were concerns about the terms and conditions of those workers who are working on behalf of Irish Water and who are attached to our local authorities. I was delighted that following negotiations with the Workplace Relations Commission and all the relevant parties, it did appear that an agreement was reached to which all parties could sign up. Unfortunately, however, an issue has now arisen with theLocal Government Management Agency regarding how the terms and conditions of local authority workers who want to remain with the local authority but still carry out work for Irish Water are going to be met.

Everyone was under the impression that the matter was all sorted, but now this has cropped up and negotiations seem to have run out of road. On behalf of the workers, SIPTU announced that there will be two days of strike action starting on 7 and 8 June. It is very unfortunate that matters have reached this stage. I respectfully request that we ask the Minister to come to the House in order that we can debate this issue so that perhaps a pathway can be found to find a settlement to this dispute. The last thing we want is for these people to go on strike. They feel as though that is their last option, however. When an agreement is made, it should be binding to all parties. It is very disappointing that we are even having this discussion. It is an important issue, however, and we need to get the Minister into the House to address it.