I yesterday raised the issue of the closure of social welfare offices during the current industrial dispute on the Order of Business. I’ve only seen this commented on and am not sure of the full extent of this practice.
But I do know that the last people who should be suffering due to public sector wage cuts are those with no jobs at all. I am contacting the Department of Social and Family affairs to understand the size of this problem but I really hope that it’s very limited. If not I will be asking those involved to reflect on this behaviour.