Work to rule will hurt vulnerable

With public sector unions escalating their work to rule this week, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned their action is not an effective way to bring the message home to Fianna Fáil and the Greens, and will have a bigger impact on the vulnerable.

“The work to rule and go-slow which have been stepped up this week will hurt users of public services much more than they hurt the Government. These include children in schools, patients in hospitals, unemployed people looking for jobs and training, and pensioners seeking medical cards or other benefits. It will only serve to deepen the divisions in our society between the public and private sectors.

“Ireland needs public sector reform and savings, but the approach being taken by the Government and unions will make both much harder to achieve.

“The solution to this is clear. Both sides should accept Fine Gael’s long-standing approach to public sector reform:

• The Government should give an assurance that there will be no additional pay cuts in the next Budget;
• The unions should calls off their action and accept that people have a right to modern, well-run public services, and that this is not in the gift of the trade union movement;
• Negotiations should begin on the basis that the most recent pay cuts can be reversed over time as new contracts and new working practices in the public service are adopted sector by sector, provided these new contracts deliver better public services and real savings for the public.”