My Labour Party colleagues and I were glad to stand in support of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association on picket lines outside hospitals around the country yesterday. I was glad to join members of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association in hospitals in my constituency. We are all conscious that there are long-running issues that had driven the medical laboratory scientists to take this action. In some cases, these issues have been ongoing for 20 years or more. I refer, for example, to long-standing pay and career development issues. There is massive frustration and burnout among medical scientists over the problems with recruitment, retention and pay and conditions. I appeal to the Tánaiste to ensure that there is serious engagement by Government with the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association in order to ensure that this matter is resolved, that the issues which gave rise to the industrial action are addressed and that we do not see any escalation. Through Covid, we all have got a new appreciation of the vital importance of the work that medical scientists do.

I thank Deputy Bacik. I acknowledge that medical scientists are essential to the health service. Patients and members of the public often do not see what they do because they work in laboratories rather than in patient-facing areas. As a medical doctor, I know what they do and I know how important they are to the health service. I would certainly like to see this dispute resolved.

My Department, as the Deputy will be aware, has two offices under its remit, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court. We stand ready to assist in resolving this dispute, if we can. The public service agreement group, which is made up of union and Civil Service representatives with an independent chair, met on 11 May to consider this matter. It recommended that the matter should be referred to the WRC and that industrial peace be maintained in the meantime. While the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association has agreed to engage at the WRC, it has not agreed to lift its strike action, which is unfortunate. As I say, the WRC is ready to intervene and wants to intervene but we would like normal patient services resumed in the meantime.