'Government knew the strike risk and chose disruption instead' - Offaly TD

Independent TD for Offaly, Carol Nolan, has described the public sector strike set to take place tomorrow (Wednesday) as "the predictable consequence of a Government that ignored a deadline it could see approaching years in advance".

Deputy Nolan said there was no mystery about how the dispute developed, and that, although the expiry date of the previous public service agreement was known long beforehand, Ministers failed to put in place the groundwork necessary to avoid a confrontation affecting schools, hospitals and public services.

"Governments often talk about unforeseen events. There is no such excuse here. This dispute came with a calendar date attached to it," said the local TD.

"The expiry of the public service agreement was not a surprise. It was a known deadline moving steadily towards the Government for more than two years, and ministers still managed to arrive at it unprepared.

“Public servants have every right to expect that concerns around pay and living costs are taken seriously. We should never have reached the stage where nationwide disruption was being contemplated.

"A responsible administration starts difficult conversations before deadlines expire. This Government allowed the deadline to expire and is now scrambling to explain why the country is facing disruption that was entirely foreseeable."

Deputy Nolan said the consequences of that failure would now impact on people who had no role in creating the dispute.

"The patient whose appointment is postponed did not create this problem. The person trying to access a public service did not create this problem. But they are now positioned as spectators in a contest of leverage between the State and union leadership because those with responsibility failed to do their jobs when there was still time to prevent this.

"The central fact remains unchanged. The Government had advance notice, had the information, had the resources and had the opportunity to prevent this dispute from escalating. It failed on every one of those counts."

She said the public was now being faced with the cancellation of appointments and major disruption across the education sector.

"Government must swallow its pride and concede that workers and their representatives are being forced into action because of its inaction," she said.

"The last thing we all need is a prolonged period of industrial unrest that will transform limited but widespread disruption into nationwide chaos," Deputy Nolan concluded.