What we value is important.

The wide range of supports that the Defence Forces have provided to the HSE, as coordinated by the Joint Task Force during the COVID-19 crisis include:•

>operation of the COVID-19 testing centre at the Aviva stadium; >support for contact tracing efforts;
>transportation by the Air Corps of COVID-19 tests to Germany;
>collection of PPE from more than 260 cargo flights and the ongoing storage and distribution of this PPE to various HSE sites;
> support for HSE testing efforts including throug

To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on whether @pdforra & @RACO_DF were meaningfully consulted by his Departmental officials during the recent national pay negotiation talks; if the current structure for engagement with these organisations is necessary and sufficient for future national pay talks; and if he will make a statement on the matter
REPLY: My Department is committed to ensuring that the process of engagement between the parties to pay

Worth remembering the following: 2014, EUROMIL, in support of one of its Irish member association, namely the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA), lodged a complaint against Ireland for violating Articles 5 and 6 of the European Social Charter as regards the rights of Irish military personnel to organise and bargain collectively. The complaint dealt with the fact that Irish military associations do not have full trade union rights including the right to join an umbrella organisation such as ICTU (the Irish Congress of