Yesterday, 95% of the members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland, PNA, voted in favour of industrial action up to and including strike action in protest at the continuing recruitment and retention crisis in our health service. This morning, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, voted by a similar margin and its executive is to meet in early January to set in train a number of 24-hour stoppages. The threat of industrial action at any time is regrettable but there is no doubt that this is the outworking of the Taoiseach's policy and that of Minister for Health in tackling or not tackling the retention and recruitment crisis in our hospitals. This has happened despite nurses, midwives and their trade unions putting forward sensible proposals time and again and despite the House passing a Sinn Féin motion calling for a number of measures on recruitment and retention based on realistic pay proposals, which was about setting out a roadmap and working with unions to achieve full pay equality. Will the Taoiseach ensure the Government engages with the unions, nurses and midwives to ensure they get a fair deal and do not have to take strike action, for which they have now been given authority?

Earlier in the year, the Public Service Pay Commission published a set of proposals on this issue. The Government has already given a commitment that we will fund and implement these proposals for next year. A meeting of the oversight committee of the public service stability agreement is taking place tomorrow. As the Deputy will be aware, the way in which we engage with trade unions on issues such as this is through that body. We meet all unions together. It is not just a case of dealing with the issues in the health service raised by the Deputy because the knock-on consequences of that for all of our public services would cause huge challenges next year.