Planned industrial action 500 hospital pharmacists, which was due to take place on Wednesday (16th February) was suspended following confirmation last week that the dispute could be referred to the Labour Court.

Confirmation of the referral followed a meeting of the Public Sector Agreement Group (PSAG) last week, where it was agreed the parties should return to the WRC process and progress matters to the Labour Court. The PSAG is a union-management forum that deals with issues arising from the Building Momentum agreement.

In a memo issued to hospital pharmacists last Thursday, Fórsa's head of Health and Welfare Éamonn Donnelly said the union had received confirmation that the parties could proceed to the court and that the strike would not proceed. A limited action currently being undertaken by hospital pharmacists will also be discontinued.

Representatives of Fórsa, the HSE and the health department met earlier this week to discuss the next steps. Fórsa assistant general secretary Catherine Keogh subsequently wrote to the WRC on behalf of all the parties seeking that the conciliation process be reconvened as a soon as possible, and proceedings are now scheduled to commence on 16^th March.

In a ballot last month, Fórsa’s hospital pharmacist members voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in the dispute, which concerns the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s (DPER) refusal to sanction an improved hospital pharmacy service, which would deliver cost savings of €55m per year. The savings had already validated by the Department of Health and the HSE.