I too want to extend my condolences on behalf of the Sinn Féin Party to the Cathaoirleach on the sad passing of his sister, Eileen, and indeed to the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Senator Paul Coghlan, on the sad passing of his mother as well. May they rest in peace.

I raise today the strike we are facing on Thursday that will have very serious implications. That is the strike of the healthcare assistants, the homecare assistants, the maternity care assistants, the staff, the cleaners, the laboratory aides, the chefs and the surgical instrument cleaners who operate our hospitals and health facilities.

These are the people who hold our health service together. Some 6,200 workers are affected in 38 facilities across the country, including the Central Mental Hospital. I welcome that a delegation from SIPTU, led by Paul Bell, came to Leinster House earlier to discuss the implications with Members and give us the details. I also thank my colleague, Senator Gavan, and Senator Nash for inviting them.

It is disgraceful how these workers are being treated. They may be described as servants in the Health Acts but they are not slaves, which is exactly how the State has been treating many of them. They are on low wages as it is, and have agreements on phases 1 and 2 with Government, but the Government will not implement them. Even the employer, that is the HSE, has agreed. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been aware of this all the time but it did not make provision for it in the budget, which is disgraceful. These workers must not continue to be treated in this disrespectful and dismissive manner. Massive bonuses for bankers are being reintroduced while tax relief for vulture funds continue, yet this is how the State treats the lowest paid, hardest working in our society. It is unacceptable that these workers face entering an official dispute to secure what they are owed. They are not looking for anything extra, only what has been agreed and what is owed to them.

The Government has saved millions of euro since 2008 when the job evaluation scheme was suspended. These are the low-paid workers who get up early in the morning and just about manage to exist. The Government must implement this agreement. It is within its gift to prevent this strike and the impact it will have on communities and to the most vulnerable from happening on Thursday. The Government must honour this agreement or I will join the picket lines in Mayo with these SIPTU workers on Thursday.

I join others in expressing the Labour Party group's sympathy on the passing of the Cathaoirleach's sister and the Leas Cathaoirleach, Senator Paul Coghlan's mother.

I join others in recognising the industrial action by SIPTU workers that will take place on Thursday. It is important that people understand that no worker takes the withdrawal of his or her labour lightly. It is the singular most difficult decision that any worker can make. It is a particularly painful decision, which can have any number of ramifications, sometimes for years, in how a person's position in work might be treated and interactions with others in work can suffer as a consequence. Taking industrial action is a major decision. The Government has reneged on its promises to these workers. Many of our hospitals will effectively shut down on Thursday. Many Oireachtas Members will stand shoulder to shoulder with members of SIPTU on Thursday, as will I. As others have noted, it is important that the Government steps in to resolve this. It is not good enough for the Taoiseach to suggest that this is a matter for the Labour Court. The Government and the HSE are the employer, they have reneged on promises made and they should resolve the dispute immediately so that we do not end up with pickets outside hospitals.

Anyone who has had the misfortune of having a loved one under the care of people who work in hospitals will be aware of the essential services that go beyond the nursing and doctor grades furnished by people who provide meals or transport around the hospital. Hospitals cannot function without them. I very much give them my support and thank Senators Nash and Gavan for their presentation earlier with SIPTU workers.

I have spoken previously about the issue of school places for children with autism on the north side of Dublin and I thought we were making progress on it. I raised it as a Commencement Matter and, in fairness to the Minister, he gave me great assurances that no child would be left without a school place in September. However, the issue is still unresolved. As the Leader knows, there were marches in Cork and Dublin last Saturday. Yesterday it was reported in The Irish Times that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is telling the Minister there are not sufficient school places in September for children with autism. This is not something that is just being said by a campaign group; the NCSE is also stating it. Can we please have a debate in the House with the Minister, whom I know is a fair minded man? We cannot have a situation where children with autism have no school places in September. The system is broken and needs to be fixed. It is now the middle of June and we are facing a situation where children will have no school to go to in September. I plead with the Leader to have this discussion with the Minister. I know he will do his best to find a solution but we are waiting and we still do not have a resolution to this very serious issue.