Deputy Toddy O'Sullivan gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of his Private Notice Question regarding the imminent strike at FÁS. That is in order. Deputy O'Sullivan has some ten minutes to present his case and the Minister some five minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - FÁS Industrial Dispute.
I would like to thank you for allowing me to raise this very urgent and important matter. I am aware that discussions did take place today between SIPTU and FÁS in an effort to resolve this threatened dispute. It would be in everyone's interests if the solutions could be found before pickets were placed and attitudes harden on both sides. I have no doubt that the Minister is well aware of the likely course of events should staff members fail to report for work on Monday next. Is the Minister in a position to report progress on the matter or, better still, can he inform the House that the matter has been resolved?
This dispute arises from an agreement which dates back to 1987 in which SIPTU sought the implementation of a preferential buy-back agreement which involved former AnCO employees who were transferred to FÁS. The union also sought a guarantee for the continuance of the AnCO superannuation scheme and that all benefits of that scheme would be paid in full. I do feel that it would be unjust if former employees of AnCO were offered conditions which were less favourable than those which they enjoyed prior to 1987.
In recent years several pieces of legislation were passed in this House which guaranteed security of tenure to workers who were transferred from one authority to another. One which springs to mind and which I was very much involved in myself was the Posts and Telecommunications Act which guaranteed to workers who are now in An Post and Telecom Éireann standards of income and protection of the rights they enjoyed with the Post Office.
The action now proposed cannot in any way be described as wild cat action as the decision to strike was taken following lengthy discussions within the union followed by a secret ballot which instructed union headquarters to declare strike action and called on members to cease work at normal finishing time on Friday next, 8 June and to report for picket duty on Monday next, 11 June, at normal starting time for work.
If a solution is not found before the weekend there will be widespread disruption of services provided by FÁS. First it will affect directly all FÁS trainees, 11,000 people throughout the country who are now involved in social employment schemes. Payments to those categories will be delayed and disrupted. Training of apprentices will be disrupted which could do long-term damage to many of the young people who are now being trained under the aegis of FÁS. It will have a still more damaging affect on those who are unemployed and currently seeking employment. It will also disrupt external courses now being run by statutory bodies such as vocational education committees and private sub-contractors — these are being carried on at locations outside FÁS premises right across the country. Finally, 2,000 people now face the possibility of being out on the street on Monday next.
Since I asked for this Adjournment earlier today I have been informed that negotiations were in progress and I believe they are still ongoing. I would like to assure the Minister that he has my best wishes for a successful outcome to these discussions, but should the present discussions fail to resolve this dispute I would ask the Minister to have the matter referred to the Labour Court without delay.
I would like to thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his constructive and helpful comments. I would not quibble with most of the details he outlined as being the history of the dispute. I share the Deputy's concern at the consequences of the proposed strike by FÁS staff for trainees and participants in the various employment schemes. In an effort to bring about a conclusion to the outstanding AnCO superannuation issues, protracted discussions between officials of my Department, the Department of Finance and FÁS have been ongoing. Today FÁS held discussions with the unions concerned and while difficulties still arise and were identified I am hopeful that it may still be possible to secure the agreement of the unions to withdraw or at least defer the proposed action. I am aware that the board of FÁS will also consider this matter at its monthly meeting tomorrow. I understand that there has been some further news on this issue in the last hour or so and I understand discussions are still continuing. In view of this, and given the delicate stage of the discussions, I consider that it would be unhelpful for me to engage in public debate on this matter now. Accordingly I do not propose to make further comment.