In recent weeks, industrial unrest has begun to increase. What started with the Luas workers spread to Dublin Bus drivers. Now, gardaí are the latest group to announce industrial action. As the economy continues to grow and recover, it is clear that the demand for income recovery will continue to increase.

It is the view of my party that solutions must be found to properly address these justified expectations, solutions that are more nuanced than either stonewalling all the requests and demands made by every trade union or, as the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport would have it, simply writing a cheque.

Outside the public sector, it is clear we need additional mechanisms to cope with quite complex disputes. Last week, Seanad Éireann passed a motion tabled my party colleagues there calling for the establishment of an employer labour conference that used to exist and was very successful for a very long time, to assist in such complicated situations. We are facing now into a winter of discontent on the industrial relations front. This Government could do with all the advice and help it can get in this area. The old employer labour conference predates social partnership. It is not designed to supplant but to complement the work of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court. How does the Taoiseach intend to respond to, and enact, the motion passed by Seanad Éireann last week?

Industrial unrest is not limited to Dublin Bus, the latest example being An Garda Síochána. There are reports this morning that the public sector pay commission might be established by the end of this year to report by the middle of next year. This is hardly a timeline designed to address the immediate challenges faced by Government in respect of An Garda Síochána. Public servants care about their pay but they also care about their investment in the public services they deliver. I and my party believe that they should be involved in conversations about both. The need for a social dialogue process is pretty clear and urgent. Will the Taoiseach confirm to the House that the Government is now willing to enter a negotiation with all public sector unions with a view to producing a roadmap to full pay restoration? Will he say whether he is willing to begin a broader dialogue with trade union representatives about investment in public services and restoration of pay?

Deputy Howlin is well aware of the implications of what he is talking about and had a very long and successful engagement with many unions over recent years. In so far as the Garda Síochána issue is concerned, the Minister for Justice and Equality will meet with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, today. The Garda Representative Association, GRA, has agreed to come to talk to the Minister. I hope these talks will lead to a situation where these matters can be resolved. We are not going back to the old form of social partnership. I have given consideration to an opportunity to discuss with employers, employees and unions issues that arise from time to time. The facilities of the State are always available where industrial unrest is threatened or happens. I thank the AGSI and GRA for choosing the opportunity to come to talk to the Minister. Let us see how they get on.

Does the Taoiseach accept that having individual talks with individual unions is an invitation for further unions to be more confrontational and would be very destabilising for the industrial relations backdrop, which is so essential given that we have had industrial peace in the public services for the past five years? I have not tabled any suggestion for the old social dialogue that existed in time of the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, but there is a requirement that all public servants who have contributed so hugely to the recovery of our State are treated in like fashion and that it is not simply some who have the sharpest elbows who get the first go at it.

Everybody has contributed to the recovery and everybody must be treated in like fashion, with a real and clear path to full income recovery, because they have contributed so much. I have two brief questions. First, will the Taoiseach engage across the public services rather than with individual unions to have a roadmap to income recovery? Second, will he consider, on the broader industrial front, some mechanism such as the employer-labour conference so that the complicated disputes now presenting themselves can be solved harmoniously without having to resort to strikes?

I am very anxious that we find a way forward here. Clearly, with over 2 million people working and unemployment numbers continuing to fall, we are in a somewhat better position than we were previously. I would point out to the Deputy, however, that the majority of trade unions signed up to the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements.

I know that.

The Government is conscious that we have to proceed in a prudent fashion in respect of pay restoration. That is why it is anxious to encourage trade unions to talk in respect of the issues that remain unresolved, and that hopefully can be resolved, leading to a return of industrial peace. The Government must take a sustainable and prudent approach to this issue, as the Deputy did, and it is fully committed to the Lansdowne Road agreement as the framework for industrial relations and pay determination within the public service.

The Deputy also mentioned the public service pay commission. During the summer, the Government invited interested parties to make submissions on the role and methodology of the proposed public service pay commission. The date for that closed recently, and the submissions received are now being examined by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I expect the Minister will make an announcement about that in due course.