Fórsa members at Tailte Éireann, the State agency for property registration and valuation, national mapping and surveying infrastructure, engaged in work-to-rule industrial action last month, before the dispute was referred to the Civil Service Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme.
The industrial action was part of an ongoing dispute concerning the assimilation of staff and grading arrangements arising from the establishment of Tailte Éireann in 2023. Members backed a ballot for industrial action in early August, with 82.6% voting in favour of industrial action up to and including strike action in pursuit of a resolution.
The State agency was formed through the amalgamation of Property Registration, the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI).
Fórsa assistant general secretary Jim Mitchell explained: “The assimilation of staff into a new State body is a detailed and challenging process. What we’re opposing are attempts to create a two-tier pay structure, with lesser terms for new staff, which actively undermines agreed processes to resolve pay issues at Tailte Éireann.”
Jim said the union had engaged extensively since 2023, including processes facilitated by independent third parties: “On two occasions, we received proposals from management we deemed sufficient to be put to members for consideration.
“However, in both instances, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation subsequently intervened to block those proposals at an advanced stage.
“More recently, we have come up against moves to advertise new posts at significantly lower grades than those currently in place. Tailte Éireann did this at the direction of the department,” he said.
The dispute attracted some media coverage this week concerning the backlog on issuing Eircodes, which is part of the work of Tailte Éireann.
Jim confirmed that, following several days of work-to-rule, all of the parties concerned, including Fórsa, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in addition to the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, agreed to enter into facilitation under the Civil Service Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme.
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