Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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85. To ask the Minister for Health the number of times that he and his Department have met with representatives of an organisation (details supplied) since becoming Minister in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26881/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Firstly, I would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of all medical scientists throughout the country. Their drive and dedication have been key components in our managing of the pandemic.

I acknowledge the MLSA’s claim for pay parity between medical scientists and clinical biochemists. As you may be aware, the current public pay agreement, Building Momentum 2021-2022, includes the process of Sectoral Bargaining, to address outstanding claims such as this one.

Department officials met with the HSE and the MLSA on 25 August, and again on 29 September 2020 in relation to their outstanding claim. The parties met at the WRC on the 17th of November 2020, 14^thApril 2021 and 8^thMarch 2022.

Sectoral Bargaining Meetings took place between Health Management and the MLSA on the following dates; 11^thNovember 2021, 29^thof November 2021, 6^thDecember 2021, 14th of December 2021 and the 14th of January 2022.

Despite engagement between the MLSA, HSE and DoH officials since November 2021, it has not been possible to agree a route to partially resolve the longstanding claim due to insufficient funds being available through Sectoral Bargaining. This matter has been escalated through the dispute resolution mechanism under Building Momentum and considered twice by the Public Service Agreement Group (PSAG) on 31 March and 11 May. PSAG recommended that this matter be referred to the WRC for urgent engagement and that industrial peace be maintained.

While the MLSA agreed to engage at the WRC, they have not agreed to lift their strike action which is a breach of Building Momentum. This engagement between the parties took place on May 17th 2022 but, unfortunately, no resolution was reached.

While the Department of Health is disappointed that industrial action has been initiated by the MLSA, and that disruptions have been caused across the health service, Health Management remain open to engagement with the MLSA.