Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise, that is my fault.

This is our last Order of Business. I wish everyone well for the summer and thank the Cathaoirleach, Martin, Bridget, all the staff and everyone who helps us to do our work on a daily basis. They provide an incredible service and on behalf of Sinn Féin, I am very grateful for that.

I will raise a few issues. First, I compliment Senator Higgins and am delighted to hear Senator O'Loughlin raise what is happening in Gaza and not for the first time. Every day, it gets worse. The slaughter, the genocide that is happening, is entirely unacceptable. I do not mean to bring rancour to the conversation, but this Government can and must do more. We must pass the occupied territories Bill and stop Shannon Airport being used in support of the genocide. I cited this last week to the Leader, Senator Kyne. There are 11 direct flights to Israel and 85 flights to the Middle East by the US military and we know they are supplying the weapons of death and destruction that are causing the genocide to happen on a daily basis. We can and must do more. It is not acceptable to ignore what is happening, especially through our civilian airport in Shannon.

The second issue I raise relates to the National Advocacy Service. Men and women are on strike. They were outside this building twice last week. They provide an essential service to some of the most vulnerable people in the State, representing them in the Workplace Relations Commission, in courts and in meetings with public services. They are on strike because the Government has refused to implement the Labour Court recommendation to give them a modicum of decency in their pay and conditions of business. That is entirely unacceptable. It is the fault of the Government that these people are on strike every day. For every day they are on strike, the 1,500 people who depend on their services each year are not able to access those services.

We are heading off on holiday this week, leaving this strike ongoing and these people incredibly vulnerable. The amount of money it would take to fix this dispute is minimal. There is no excuse for this, apart from an ideological objection by the Department of Social Protection. That needs to be overcome quickly. We should not have a situation where staff in our citizens advice centres will be on pickets throughout the summer. That is what will happen unless there is a Government intervention. That intervention needs to come today. I hold the Minister for Social Protection responsible. There seems to be some ideological blockage. She needs to get over herself, get this sorted out and implement the Labour Court recommendation. The message the Government is sending to employers is that it is okay to ignore the Labour Court. How can that possibly be acceptable?