Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am also very concerned on behalf of our group with the amount of legislation being dealt with this week and the amalgamation of three pieces of legislation into one and amendments being subsumed. It is not a way to do business. There is no proper scrutiny of these pieces of legislation. I support the NAS workers whom I met outside the gates earlier. They are out in large numbers on a very inclement day. It is a shocking situation that they have not had a wage increase in almost a decade and a half. It is not acceptable. Of course there have been Labour Court interventions - we have seen this with Aer Lingus - and rightly so. These people have had no increase in comparison to the 17.5% offered to Aer Lingus workers. It is not acceptable that we allow these things to happen in many areas of our country at present in many aspects of working life. If people do not shout or do not have the power to call strikes, they do not have any power at all. We need a debate on the NAS. I object to the Order of Business on that basis.

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