Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said he hopes that the strike action organised by the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association (MLSA) will be resolved soon for the sake of hospital patients.
Minister Ryan spoke to reporters outside the Dáil prior to a Cabinet meeting this morning about a range of issues, including the medical scientists strike, the housing crisis and plans by electricity operator Eirgrid to open up a new data centre.
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The Minister for Transport says that communication has been made by relevant bodies to settle the dispute, although the MLSA believe little has been done since last week’s strike action to address their concerns over pay and treatment of staff.
“We have the mechanisms- the State, the Labour Relations Commission. My understanding is that there have been talks in those sort of venues and hopefully if everyone does want to sort out a resolution, that’s the best method,” Minister Ryan said.
“I hope this can be resolved very quickly, because it is worrying and affecting patients,” he added.
The MLSA is commencing a two day strike from this morning that is set to affect hospitals and GP centres nationwide. A further three days of strike action are planned for the following week if talks fail to have a positive outcome.
He also said he agrees with Eirgrid’s decision to delay taking applications for new data centres due to concerns over the country’s energy supply.
Eirgrid have stalled talks with data providers due to limited energy resources. The last application relating to a data centre was made in July 2020.
“I don’t agree with some of the Opposition in government that depict certain sectors as evil personified. It’s an important part of our industry, it provides a lot of jobs in our country. We don’t want to say no, but there’s no point saying yes when there isn’t the power supply or the balancing capability within the grid to manage them,” he stated.
“I think Eirgrid are absolutely right. They have our full support in what they’re doing,” he added.
