Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I give a warm welcome to Senator O’Hara and his parents. What a fantastic start and a brilliant speech. It will be great to work with him and I look forward to it.

I wish former Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, well for the future. I commend him on his public support for a united Ireland, his aspiration to see a united Ireland in his lifetime, his encouragement for those in his party actively involved in the constitutional debate, his attendance at Ireland’s Future event at 3Arena, at which he spoke, and his comments in his last interview as Taoiseach on RTÉ on Monday evening that the cost of a united Ireland was not an inhibiting factor. All of that contributed positively to the national debate about this country’s constitutional future. I also acknowledge his role in successful marriage equality and abortion reform referendums, his opposition with the EU to Brexit, which prevented a hard border; and his leadership during the difficult years of the pandemic.

I wish the new Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, well. I do not think we will agree on most things but I nonetheless urge him to adopt a similar approach to the reunification of our country as that taken by the previous Taoiseach. He should make a united Ireland one of his main priorities in the time that is left of this Government before the next election. There are many issues related to the constitutional debate that require a Government-led plan - reconciliation with unionists and Protestants, the economy, the health services and education. The Government’s shared island unit is an important and welcome development and is addressing many of these issues, but not in a planned or co-ordinated way. I urge the Taoiseach to set up citizens’ assembly or a credible alternative to such an assembly to advance the constitutional debate to the next level. Planning is key to the future direction of the constitutional debate and the Government’s involvement in that planning is crucial to a successful outcome.

The second issue I raise is that of the workers in SouthDoc who provide a key service in health services in Cork and Kerry. These are the workers who kept the health service in those areas going during the Covid pandemic. All of us were relieved when we saw a deal for section 39 workers at the back end of last year. However, now I am told that the HSE, under the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is now saying that the SouthDoc workers do not actually belong to section 39 even though they had a previous pay increase under section 39. Right now, hundreds of workers in SouthDoc are being told that the pay deal that was supposed to include them does not include them and they still cannot get the increments they were due last year. This is just another example of the difference between the spin of this Government and the reality that those workers are being failed. I once again call for the Minister who is not here, Deputy Donnelly, to actually come into this Chamber and debate health services instead of hiding, which he has been doing for the past four months.